Superb Edo pictures illustrating dances (Odori keiyô Edo-e no sakae): Interior of an imaginary theatre with a performance of Shibaraku 「踊形容江戸絵栄」.

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865).

Publisher: Nōshūya Yasubei (Japanese, fl. c. 1851 – 1870).

Year: 1858 (Ansei 5), 7th month.

Size: Vertical ôban triptych; 36.9 x 75.7 cm.

Signed: 一陽斎雛獅豊国筆(年玉印) – Ichiyôsai Hinashi Toyokuni ga (on the left sheet only).

Censor’s seal: Horse 7 [午七 彫師].

Subject: Shibaraku.

Ref.: MFA impression: 11.44263a-c; Robert Schaap. Kunisada (2016), p. 101 [LIB-1212.2017].

Ref.: [LIB-1197.2016] Arendie and Henk Herwig. Heroes of the Kabuki stage: an introduction to Kabuki with retellings of famous plays, illustrated by woodblock prints. — Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2004; p. 38.

[LIB-3316.2024] Chris Uhlenbeck, Jim Dwinger, Josephine Smit. The Riddles of Ukiyo-e: Women and Men in Japanese Prints. — Brussels: Ludion, 2023, p. 218-9, № 107.