Katsukawa Shunshō. Actor Ichikawa Ebizō III in a Shibaraku role, 1772.

Artist: Katsukawa Shunshō (勝川春章, 1726–1792)

Signed: 春章画 (Shunshō ga)

Publisher: Not identified

Date: 1772 (Meiwa 9)

Media: Hosoban format, nishiki-e (multi-colored woodblock print), 318 × 151 mm

Provenance: Collection of Henry Steiner (American, b. 1934)

Actor: Ichikawa Ebizō III [市川海老蔵] (Japanese, 1711-1778); other names: Ichikawa Danjūrō IV, Matsumoto Kōshirō II, Matsumoto Shichizō I.

Role: Shinozuka Gorō (篠塚五郎)

Play: Ōyoroi Ebidō Shinozuka (大鎧海老胴篠塚)

Theater: Nakamura-za (中村座), Edo, 11th month, 1772 (Meiwa 9)

Full-length, standing, head turned to his right. The actor appears in a voluminous persimmon-brown costume decorated with the Ichikawa family crest (mimasu, 三升), each enclosing a shrimp or lobster (ebi, 海老), alluding to his newly adopted stage name Ebizō. The print commemorates his renaming from Matsumoto Kōshirō II to Ichikawa Ebizō III during this performance. Attached to his wig are folded white paper strips symbolizing strength. A massive katana rises behind his back, and the upturned curve of the scabbard, along with the bold graphic patterns of the costume and facial makeup, emphasize theatrical vitality. At the same time, his downcast gaze, sagging cheeks, and wrinkled features reflect the actor’s age, subtly rendered by Shunshō through stylized likeness.

Note:
Although the title of this print is often rendered generically as Ichikawa Ebizō III in a Shibaraku Role, performance records indicate that the actor played Shinozuka Gorō in the Shibaraku scene of the play Ōyoroi Ebidō Shinozuka at the Nakamura-za in the 11th month of 1772. The visual markers of the Shibaraku convention — including the pose, sword, and costume — justify the title, but the specific role is known.

Reference: [LIB-1474.2018] Important Japanese prints from the collection of Henry Steiner / Catalogue № 14. — NY: Sebastian Izzard LLC, 2018; Plate 12.

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