- Albumen photograph of a young Japanese woman dressed as a man.

n.p. c1880? Albumen print mounted on card, 6x10cm, with red border, printed on the back. Edges of the print a touch nibbled. ¶ Inscribed on the back is, I'm told, - Yoshiwara Edomachi Daimonjiro Handayu. The Daimonji was one of the grandest of pleasure palaces in the Yoshiwara.I'm not convinced by this inscription. Another photograph from the same source had a similar inscription on the back in a different, possibly earlier, hand: ? - Diaimonji _ _Tayu. Tayu can mean a high ranking courtesan and certainly that photo is of a completely frocked out woman in a frocked out setting. But our photo is in a different setting on a different mount.This could be a portrait of a woman dressed to suit the taste of some clients. But that coat, waistcoat and maybe shirt collar seem too large for a properly tailored suit and it is a gentleman's outfit, from hat to watch chain. Or the inscription could be a decision made by an owner of both photos that this was a courtesan of that brothel. It seems to be a common decision that any woman dressed as a man was a prostitute. They both look like they were taken in photographers' studios. The undoubted courtesan has some props: an overwhelming robe is on the wall behind her, she has a charcoal brazier and kettle, a dish of snacks and a long pipe. They are both on western looking carpets, not the same one. *In Chinese can be an unmarried woman or it could be a woman who is not afraid of the enemy.

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