Sixteen Female Sennin, Charming Creatures

(Enshi jû-roku josen, 艶姿十六女仙)

c. 1847

Sennin are Taoist immortals. In addition to the eight principal male immortals, some texts also mention eight female immortals. This series pair beautiful women with each of these sixteen immortals, with a poem inscribed on each print. The series is listed as number 58 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961). The prints in this series are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.

	Sennin: Ryo Douhin (呂洞賓) Chinese name: Lu Dongbin Description: Woman in red robes holding a black lacquer plate, standing in front of a shoji screen with a painted dragon Inset: Ryo Douhin seated conjuring a dragon from a pot Publisher: Arita-ya Seiemon
	Sennin: Roko Chinese name: Description: Woman in a blue robe with a floral pattern, holding an open fan and looking at two turtles for sale suspended by strings from a bar over dishes Inset: Roko riding a tortoise of longevity Publisher: Ebisu-ya Shôshichi
	Sennin: Hoso (彭祖) Chinese name: Peng Zu Description: Reclining woman leaning on a long smoking pipe Inset: Hoso seated and holding a fragrant branch Publisher: Arita-ya Seiemon
	Sennin: Gama (蝦蟇) Chinese name: Liu Hai Description: Barefoot woman holding a cat on her shoulder Inset: Gama with a toad on his shoulder Publisher: Arita-ya Seiemon
	Another state of the above design with the inset having a yellow background
	Sennin: Oshikyô (王子喬) Chinese name: Description: Inset: Oshikyô seated on a bird in flight Publisher: Ebisu-ya Shôshichi
	Sennin: Joriken (上利劔) Chinese name: Description: Beauty sitting on a barrel of Kenbishi (剣菱) brand sake Inset: Publisher: Arita-ya Seiemon NOTE: It is not unusual to find advertisements in prints of this period. I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for this image.
	Sennin: Kin Kô (琴高) Chinese name: Description: Inset: Publisher: Arita-ya Seiemon
	Another state of the above design with the inset having a yellow background
	Sennin: 豊干禅師 Chinese name: Description: Inset: Publisher: Arita-ya Seiemon
	Sennin: 王處 Chinese name: Description: Inset: Publisher: Ebisu-ya Shôshichi
	Sennin: Chinese name: Description: Inset: Publisher: Ebisu-ya Shôshichi
	Sennin: Chinese name: Description: Inset: Publisher: Ebisu-ya Shôshichi
	Sennin: Shohei (初平) Chinese name: Description: Inset: Publisher: Arita-ya Seiemon
	This is a key block print for the above design. It is an impression pulled from the first woodblock made by a carver from the artist’s original drawing. The artist would write instructions for each color on a separate key block print, and the woodblock for each color was cut using one of these as a guide. Registration marks (kento) are characteristically found on Japanese key block prints, although not seen on this example. Kento are cut in each woodblock, so that the paper can be properly aligned on each woodblock during printing. In addition to being a guide for carving the color woodblocks, the key block was also used to apply black ink (usually) in the printing process.
	Sennin: 鐡拐 Chinese name: Description: Woman with long tobacco pipe and paper lantern Inset: Publisher: Arita-ya Seiemon
	Sennin: Chinese name: Description: Inset: Publisher: Ebisu-ya Shôshichi
	Sennin: 粂仙人 Chinese name: Description: Inset: Publisher:

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