Additional Images

Provenance:

Estate of Dr. Sean Murphy, Montreal, acquired by descent from his mother, Cecil Tremayne Buller (Canadian artist), and his father, John J.A. Murphy (New York printmaker)

Note:

Despite the white cat acting as the central figure, the main event takes place in the distance in the form of the Torinomachi Festival procession, heading across the rice fields towards the Washi Daimyonjin Shrine in Asakusa (to the right, not pictured). The festival celebrated the "taking-in" (tori) of customers, and the procession-goers can be seen carrying kumade (bamboo rakes) as a symbol for "raking in" good luck.

Asakusa was known as a major entertainment district in Edo (present-day Tokyo), which housed many leisure establishments such as restaurants, theatres and brothels. Yoshiwara was a popular yukaku (red-light district), which was relocated north of Asakusa in the 17th century. Clues scattered within room point to its use, which include a used towel, a mouth-rinsing bowl, a gifted set of rake-shaped hairpins, and most notably a neatly folded stack of onkotogami, which were used by courtesans to clean up after their professional affairs.

Other points to note are the novel use of lines and perspective, the natural grain of the cherrywood printing block incorporated into the wallpaper, and the rich gradient of Prussian blue applied to the changing sky.

Compare with examples sold at Christie's New York, March 21, 2022, lot 221; Christie's New York, September 20, 2021, lot 42; Christie's New York, September 20, 2021, lot 191; Christie's New York, March 15, 2021, lot 158; and Christie's London, June 18, 2020, lot 37

Christie's New York, March 21, 2022, lot 221
Christie's New York, September 20, 2021, lot 42
Christie's New York, September 20, 2021, lot 191
Christie's New York, March 15, 2021, lot 158
Christie's London, June 18, 2020, lot 37
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