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Katsukawa Shunshō ( 勝川 春章; 1726 – 19 January 1793). -
Ebisu drawing wakamizu, the first water drawn from a well on the New Year. Kitao Shigemasa (北尾 重政, 1739 – 8 March 1820). Signed: Shigemasa. Publisher's mark: Nishimuraya Yohachi.References:
Jacob Pins #547 [p.217] - Ebisu drawing wakamizu, the first water drawn from a well on the New Year. TNM II (Tokyo National Museum Catalogue vol. 2) #1373.
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Ogata Gekkō [尾形月耕] (Japanese, 1859 – 1920). An uchiwa-e (fan-print) of advertisement of tobacco of Kagoshima Prefecture, c. 1890 (Meiji Period). Barefoot Tengu* is sitting on a torii (entrance to a Shinto shrine), smoking a cigarette through a mouthpiece. _______ * Tengu [天狗] (heavenly dog) is a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion and are also considered a type of Shinto god (kami) or yōkai (supernatural beings). -
Utagawa Toyokuni (歌川豐國); 1769 – 24 February 1825. The actor Nakamura Utaemon as Ishikawa Goemon. Circa 1810. Size/Format: Oban, 9.75 by 14.5 inches -
Torii Kiyonaga (鳥居 清長; 1752 – June 28, 1815) Signed: Kiyonaga ga (清長画)References: No references whatsoever, not in Pins.
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Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a red toshidama cartouche. Actor: Ichikawa Danjūrō VII 市川団十郎 (Japanese, 1791 – 1859); other names: Ichikawa Ebizō V, Ichikawa Hakuen II, Ichikawa Shinnosuke I. Character: Tanbaya Onizo [丹波屋鬼蔵] Play: Koi Bikyaku Yamato Orai [恋飛脚大和往来] Performance: Kawarasaki Theatre [河原崎座] in the 2nd month of 1851. Double nanushi censor seals: Fuku & Muramatsu, from 3rd month of Kaei 2 to 11th month of Kaei 4 (1849-51). Another fan print from the pair SVJP-0212-2.2016: Sawamura Chōjūrō V as Kameya Chubei.
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Artist: Utagawa Toyohiro [歌川豐廣] (Japanese, 1773 – 1828) Publisher: Takasu Soshichi (Marks 25-247 / 517) Size: pillar print (hashira-e), 69.2 x 13 cm.Signed: Toyohiro ga [豐廣画]
Catalogue raisonné: Jacob Pins, The Japanese Pillar Print, № 923, p. 326. -
Mori Sosen (1747-1821). A Monkey Seated on a Rock with an Infant Monkey. Hanging scroll painting. Ink and colour on silk. Signed: Sosen. Sealed: Sosen. 108.3 x 38.3 cm. Provenance: According to the box inscriptions, the painting was in the possession of Itakura Katsunao, a daimyo lord in present-day Gunma, in 1808. In 1881, the painting was subsequently acquired by Negishi Shôrei (1833-1897) a master swordsman who established the Negishi school of shuriken ("The only specialist school to have survived is the Negishi-ryū, which was founded by Negishi Shorei in the mid-1800s".) -
Kikukawa Eizan (菊川 英山, 1787 – July 17, 1867) Signed: Eizan hitsu (英山筆)Jacob Pins #972/p.341. Leiden, Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde.
"The Lovers Miura-ya Komurasaki and Shirai Gonpachi: Tragic love stories taken from real life and dramatized were a staple of stage and print; the darkly romantic combination of desire and death was hugely popular in the eighteenth century. Hirai Gompachi was a warrior of the Tottori fief in western Japan who fled to Edo after committing a murder. He was apprehended and sentenced to death in 1679. His distraught lover, the courtesan Komurasaki, committed suicide at his grave." [MET]
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Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a red toshidama cartouche. Actor: Sawamura Gennosuke II [沢村源之助] (Japanese, 1802/7 – 1853); other names: Suketakaya Takasuke III, Sawamura Chōjūrō V [沢村長十郎], Sawamura Tosshō I, Sawamura Genpei I. Character: Kameya Chubei [亀屋忠兵衛] Play: Koi Bikyaku Yamato Orai [恋飛脚大和往来] Performance: Kawarasaki Theatre [河原崎座] in the 2nd month of 1851. Double nanushi censor seals: Fuku & Muramatsu, from 3rd month of Kaei 2 to 11th month of Kaei 4 (1849-51). Another fan print from the pair SVJP-0212-1.2016: Ichikawa Ebizō V as Tanbaya Onizo / Fan print, 1851.
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Mori Sosen (1747-1821). Seated Monkey. Hanging scroll painting. Ink and colour on silk. Signed: Sosen. Sealed: Sosen. 28.8 x 33.3 cm. -
Isoda Koryūsai (礒田 湖龍斎, 1735–1790), flourished: 1769 to 1790. The print lacks signature (signature erased).Attributed definitely to Koryūsai: Jacob Pins, #491 [p.202] - Saigyo Hoshi admiring Mount Fuji. Signature erased but convincingly attributed to Koryusai. Tikotin Museum, Haifa. Catalogue raisonné: Allen Hockley: A3-J-5 (p. 261).
Saigyō Hōshi (西行 法師, 1118 – March 23, 1190) was a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. -
UTAGAWA TOYOKUNI I (1769–1825) Ichikawa Danjūrō VII (Ebizo V) in a shibaraku costume bursting through a paper screen. Surimono. Colour woodblock print: shikishiban, 8⅛ x 7⅛ in. (20.7 x 18.2 cm) Signed: Toyokuni ga Poem signed: Sakuragawa Jihinari Provenance: Sidney C. Ward -
Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni I [歌川豊国] (1769–1825). Title: 「しなのやおこん 瀬川菊之丞」「帯屋長右衛門 嵐雛助」 Kabuki play: Katsuragawa Renri no Shigarami [桂川連理柵]. According to Waseda University Cultural Resource Database, the play was performed at Ichimura-za (Edo) on the 2nd month of Kansei 12 (year 1800) under the title 楼門五山桐 さんもんごさんのきり. Publisher: Nishimuraya Yohachi [西村屋与八] (Japanese, c. 1751 – 1869)., Play by Suga Sensuke [菅専助] (ca. 1728 – 1791) in two acts. First performed at Kita Horie-za in Osaka in October 1776. Based on a real incident occurring sometime in the Kyōhō era (1716-35), this story was first dramatized in 1761. The first Kabuki drama to stem from this play was in 1777 at Osaka's Araki-za. Obiya Chōemon, a married obi merchant (sitting with abacus) in his forties, meets his neighbour's daughter Ohan (standing behind Obiya), who is young enough to be his daughter, at an inn in Ishibe; the two fall in love and pledged their troth. Ohan becomes pregnant. After a series of misfortunes, the lovers rush to Katsuragawa (Katsura River), where they drown themselves.Segawa Kikunojō III (Japanese, 1751 – 1810); other names: Segawa Senjo, Segawa Rokō III, Segawa Tomisaburō I, Ichiyama Tomisaburō, Ichiyama Shichinosuke. The actor held the name of Segawa Kikunojō III from the 11th lunar month of 1774 to the 7th lunar month of 1801. He surpassed all the actors of his time in both female and male roles, especially in the former, and achieved tremendous public acclaim.
Arashi Hinasuke II [嵐雛助] (Japanese, c. 1774 – 1801); other names: Nakamura Jūzō III, Kanō Hidenosuke I, Arashi Hidenosuke I. The actor held the name of Arashi Hinasuke II from the 1st lunar month of 1794 to the 2nd lunar month of 1801. Hi died in Edo on the 4th day of the 2nd lunar month of 1801. For the same characters illustrated by Utagawa Kuniyoshi see SVJP-0333.2021.
Sources:
- Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre By Samuel L. Leiter. Second edition, 2014.
- Kabuki Encyclopedia. An English-Langauge Adaptation of Kabuki Jiten. Samuel L. Leiter. Greenwood Press, 1979.
- http://www.kabuki21.com/
- Waseda University Cultural Resource Database
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The print lacks signature. It is attributed by some to Suzuki Harunobu and by the others to Isoda Koryūsai.Attributed to Koryūsai: Pins #517/p.209, c. 1775 [AIC II: Clarence Buckingham Collection, 1925.2772], Ukiyo-e Taisei IV; Vignier & Inada, 1911; Ritsumeikan University Z0165-239.
Attributed to Harunobu: Pins #239/p.132.; BM 1906,1220,0.85;
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Utagawa Toyokuni (歌川豐國); 1769 – 24 February 1825. Actor Onoe Matsusuke II as Katsugiino (right), actor Sawamura Tanosuke II as Otsuyu (left) 尾上松助（二代目）in a role かつぎいの; 沢村田之助（二代目) in a role おつゆ. Play: "Yuki to Tsuki Hana no Kuronushi". Theater: Nakamura. Publisher: Mikawaua Seiemon (1805-1829) [Marks: 328]. Circa 1810. -
Ippitsusai Bunchō (一筆斎文調); lived 1725-1794; flourished 1755–1790. Size: Chuban; 26 x 20 cm The design presents a young woman reading a scroll while arranging her hear, and a young man with a rowing rod watching over her shoulder; the pair is standing on a giant shrimp that ferries them over a stream. The third passenger is a literate octopus, who's is attentively exploring the text of a scroll. This allusion comes to mind promptly: “Bodhidharma crossing the Yangzi River on a reed” (Royō Daruma).
Image from Asian Art Museum in San Francisco:
Masanobu’s mitate wittily evokes an episode known as “Bodhidharma crossing the Yangzi River on a reed” (Royō Daruma). According to legend, the river crossing occurred en route to the Shaolin monastery, where Bodhidharma sat facing a wall for nine years without speaking. While serious interpretations abound in Chinese and Japanese paintings, popular prints of the Edo period often playfully substituted a beautiful woman for the monk. This parodic version was reportedly invented in response to a courtesan’s comment that she was more enlightened than Bodhidharma because she had spent ten years sitting, on display in a brothel.
An interesting article about this particular design is published at UKIYO-E.ORG BLOG. Though, the design is erroneously attributed to Harunobu. We see that Bunchō was quite fascinated by the idea of crossing a water obstacle with the help of an unsuitable means of transportation:
Female Daruma Riding a Mushroom. MFA # 21.4758.
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Katsukawa Shunshō ( 勝川 春章; 1726 – 19 January 1793).Signed: Shunchô ga (春潮画); Censor's seal: kiwame (改印：極)
Publisher: Iwatoya Kisaburō (Eirindō); c. 1760s – 1832. Marks #173/p.169.
Reference: MFA ACCESSION NUMBER 11.21263. Not in Pins.
Act VII, Gion Ichiriki no ba ("The Ichiriki Teahouse at Gion") This act gives a taste of the bustling atmosphere of the Gion pleasure quarter in Kyoto. Yuranosuke is feigning a life of debauchery at the same teahouse to which Okaru has been indentured. Kudayū, the father of Sadakurō, arrives. He is now working for Moronō and his purpose is to discover whether Yuranosuke still plans revenge or not. He tests Yuranosuke's resolve by offering him food on the anniversary of their lord's death when he should be fasting. Yuranosuke is forced to accept. Yuranosuke's sword – the revered symbol of a samurai – is also found to be covered in rust. It would appear that Yuranosuke has no thoughts of revenge. But still unsure, Kudayū hides under the veranda. Now believing himself alone, Yuranosuke begins to read a secret letter scroll about preparations for the vendetta. On a higher balcony Okaru comes out to cool herself in the evening breeze and, noticing Yuranosuke close by, she also reads the letter reflected in her mirror. As Yuranosuke unrolls the scroll, Kudayū, too, examines the end which trails below the veranda. Suddenly, one of Okaru's hairpins drops to the floor and a shocked Yuranosuke quickly rolls up the scroll. Finding the end of the letter torn off, he realises that yet another person knows his secret and he must silence them both. Feigning merriment, he calls Okaru to come down and offers to buy out her contract. He goes off supposedly to fix the deal. Then Okaru's brother Heiemon enters and, hearing what has just happened, realises that Yuranosuke actually intends to keep her quiet by killing her. He persuades Okaru to let him kill her instead so as to save their honour and she agrees. Overhearing everything, Yuranosuke is now convinced of the pair's loyalty and stops them. He gives Okaru a sword and, guiding her hand, thrusts it through the floorboards to kill Kudayū. The main actor has to convey a wide variety of emotions between a fallen, drunkard rōnin and someone who in reality is quite different since he is only faking his weakness. This is called hara-gei or "belly acting", which means he has to perform from within to change characters. It is technically difficult to perform and takes a long time to learn, but once mastered the audience takes up on the actor's emotion. Emotions are also expressed through the colours of the costumes, a key element in kabuki. Gaudy and strong colours can convey foolish or joyful emotions, whereas severe or muted colours convey seriousness and focus.
