Utagawa Toyokuni I. Onoe Matsusuke II as Katsugiino and Sawamura Tanosuke II as Otsuyu / Ōban, c. 1810.

Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni I [歌川豐國] (Japanese, 1769–1825)

Signed: Toyokuni ga [豐國画]

Publisher: Mikawaya Seiemon [三河屋清右衛門] (Japanese, fl. 1805–1829) — Marks 328

Date: c. 1810 (Bunka 7)

Media: Woodblock print (nishiki-e); vertical ōban, 385 × 261 mm

Actors:

• Onoe Matsusuke II [二代目 尾上 松助]
  • as Katsugiino (かつぎいの)
• Sawamura Tanosuke II [二代目 沢村 田之助]
  • as Otsuyu (おつゆ)

Play: Yuki to Tsuki Hana no Kuronushi (雪と月花の黒主)

Theater: Nakamura-za (中村座)

A courtesan and her companion make their way through falling snow, sheltered beneath a large parasol. Otsuyu, played by Sawamura Tanosuke II, walks slightly ahead, leaning into the cold with a sake bottle in her left hand. Her outer robe, in warm amber and black, is worn over a patterned blue and grey underlayer. Her bare feet peek out from beneath her trailing hem, perched atop tall black-lacquered geta. Her hair is dressed in the typical taka-shimada style of a courtesan, adorned with a comb, ornamental hairpins, and a folded white head ribbon tied over the crown.

Behind her walks Katsugiino, portrayed by Onoe Matsusuke II, wearing a green and black kōshi (checked) kimono and a white scarf. His right hand holds the parasol while his left steadies a rectangular wooden box, possibly containing their belongings. Snow falls heavily across the background.

The inscription in the upper left identifies the actors and their roles. The scene is drawn from the play Yuki to Tsuki Hana no Kuronushi, staged at the Nakamura Theater.