Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865).
Signature: Kunisada ga [国貞画] in a red double-gourd cartouche.
Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1815 – 1869); seal: san (三) in a circle to verso.
Date seal: Hebi (巳, Snake), Tenpō 4 , 1833, to verso.
Censor seal: kiwame (極, approved), to verso.
Media: Double-side fan print (uchiwa-e); 226 x 291 mm.
Series: Tosei rok’kasen or Tosei rokkasen [當世六花撰] – two translations: (1) by Sebastian Izzard: Six choice modern flowers, (2) by Horst Graebner: Modern Six [Immortal] Poets.
Character: Nakamura Shikan II [中村芝翫] (Japanese, 1796 – 1852); other names: Nakamura Utaemon IV [中村歌右衛門], Nakamura Tsurusuke I, Nakamura Tōtarō, Nakamura Kanjaku I, Fujima Kamesaburô (dance), Hirano Kichitarō; nicknames: Narikomaya Utaemon, Shijaku Utaemon; Poetry names: Kanjaku, Shishô [芝賞].
Poet: Kisen Hōshi [喜撰法師] (Japanese, fl. 810-824 CE) – one of Six Immortal Poets (六歌仙, rokkasen)
A double-sheet uncut fan print featuring a half-length, three-quarter view, turned to the left portrait of Kabuki actor Nakamura Shikan II (中村芝翫 二代目) engaged in a tea ceremony (chanoyu, 茶の湯). He holds a chashaku (茶杓, tea scoop) in his right hand and a natsume (棗, tea caddy) in his left. The natsume is red lacquer, adorned with gilt karakusa (唐草, arabesque) and a meander motif. He wears a black robe with blue-patterned details, and a white mokkō-mon (木瓜紋, family crest) is visible on his sleeve.
A red scroll with an inscription hangs behind him; the inscription reads: Kisen Hōshi (喜撰法師), followed by an unreadable section, with the last three characters being Shikan (しかん). His name, Nakamura Shikan II (中村芝翫), is written in hentaigana and hiragana as Narikomaya Shikan (なりこまやしかん), representing his guild and stage names. The series title Tōsei Rokkasen (当世六歌撰) appears in the red cartouche to the left, and the artist’s signature is in the double-gourd red cartouche to the right. The background features a green and purple gradient decorated with floral roundels.
The reverse side features a decorative design with floral roundels in blue and green. A paper slip (tanzaku, 短冊) with a red cloud-like gradient at the edges is positioned diagonally across the composition, containing a calligraphic inscription in cursive script. Three standard seals—publisher, approval, and date—are in the bottom right quadrant of the print.
Mokko-mon of Narikomaya guild
Ref: (1) [LIB-2967.2022] Utagawa Kunisada (1786 – 1865): His world revisited / Catalogue № 17, Exhibition March 17-21, 2021. — NY: Sebastian Izzard, LLC., 2021; p. 130-1. (2) [LIB-1212.2017] Robert Schaap. Kunisada: Imaging, drama and beauty. — Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2016, p. 58.
[With tremendous help from Horst Graebner of Kunisada Project].
