Chokosai Eisho (active circa 1780-1800) | O-uta | Edo period, late 18th century

Henri Vever (1854-1942)

Sotheby’s, London, Highly Important Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books, Drawings and Fan Paintings from the Henri Vever Collection: Part II, 26 March 1975, Lot 235 

Gerhard Pulverer (b. 1930)

Doitsu Puruvera korekushon ukiyo-e hanga meihinten [Masterpieces of Ukiyo-e from the Pulverer Collection], exhibited at the following venues: 

Matsuzakaya Department Store, Osaka, 27^th December 1990 - 8^th January 1991

Matsuzakaya Department Store, Ginza, 24^th - 29^th January 1991

Narazaki Muneshige, ed., Hizo ukiyo-e taikan, Puruvera korekushon [Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in Western Collections: The Pulverer Collection] (Tokyo, 1990), no. 51.

Doitsu Puruvera korekushon ukiyo-e hanga meihinten [Masterpieces of Ukiyo-e from the Pulverer Collection] (Tokyo, 1990), p. 43, no. 1-54. 

The print depicts the low-class prostitute, or yotaka [lit. night hawk], called O-uta in the okubi-e style of large head bust portraits. The style was sensational at the time and was later banned for its conspicuity. O-uta's head is covered with a white shawl to signify her profession, and she carries a straw matt in order to provide her services under the night sky.

Another print from the same series depicting Otatsu is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number 21.4947.