Carved Wooden Courtesan with Refined Pose and Nicely-Detailed Costume, Circa 1840

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14" (36 cm.) Of carved wood with well-defined features on the perfectly oval head, aquiline nose, painted features, narrow eyes, painted lips, painted feathering detail of hair around the forehead, silk fiber wig in very elaborate coiffure that is decorated with silk crepe bows. She is wearing a dark plum silk costume suggesting a six-layered kimono with padded hems, a dramatic front-tied embroidered obi indicating her courtesan status, and is standing on black lacquer base, her right foot peeking from beneath the layers of faux-under-kimonos, whose padded hems are designed to suggest a more sinuous strolling movement. Generally excellent. Edo period, circa 1840.