Parrot Komachi, from the series The Fashionable Seven Komachi - Chôbunsai Eishi

A refined Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Chôbunsai Eishi, featuring elegant figures in elaborate kimonos from the series The Fashionable Seven Komachi.

This woodblock print by Chôbunsai Eishi belongs to the series The Fashionable Seven Komachi (Furyu nana Komachi). Eishi, a former painter in the service of the Tokugawa shogunate, transitioned to printmaking during the late eighteenth century. His work is noted for the elongated, graceful figures that define his style of bijin-ga, or pictures of beautiful women.

The composition depicts two women and a young attendant standing beneath the boughs of a tree. The figures are rendered with fine, controlled lines, typical of the refined aesthetic Eishi brought to the Ukiyo-e genre. The women wear elaborate kimonos decorated with varied patterns, including geometric motifs and floral designs. Their posture is composed, reflecting the courtly elegance often associated with the poet Ono no Komachi, who serves as the thematic inspiration for the series. The background provides a subtle, flattened view of a rural setting, which contrasts with the detailed attire of the subjects.

Eishi moved away from the more exaggerated proportions found in the works of his contemporaries, opting instead for a slender, statuesque form. This print demonstrates his ability to balance decorative pattern with human form. The use of line work to define the folds of the fabric and the texture of the hair shows a high level of technical precision. As a piece of Edo-period art, it captures the intersection of classical literary themes and the contemporary fashion of the pleasure districts. The print is a representative example of the artist's output during his most active period in the 1790s, when he produced numerous series featuring elegant women in various settings.