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 yellow toshidama cartouche.
Publisher: Unknown, seal [久] Kyū (Japanese, fl. c. 1851 – 1861); (Marks 07-023 | U176a, possibly Sagamia Kyūzō).
Date seal and double nanushi censor seals: Fuku & Muramatsu, Kaei 6, 2nd month (2/1853).
Media: Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e (団扇絵), color woodblock print, 226 x 298 mm
Inscription in a red cartouche: (Purple of Edo // Purple of the Bay Capital) [江都むらさき] (Edo Murasaki), alluding to Murasaki Shikibu [紫 式部] (Japanese, c. 973/8 – c. 1014/31), the author of Genji Monogatari [源氏物語] (The Tale of Genji), a Heian period novel which was the source of a parody Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji [偐紫田舎源氏] (Fake Murasaki’s Rustic Genji) by Ryutei Tanehiko [柳亭種彦] (Japanese, 1783 – 1842).
According to Horst Graebner: The actor is most probably Onoe Baikō IV [四代目尾上菊五郞] (Japanese, 1808 – 1860), also known as Onoe Kikugorō IV [四代目 尾上菊五郎]; other names: Onoe Eizaburō III, Onoe Kikue, Nakamura Tatsuzō, Nakamura Kachō.
One of the series of Kunisada’s fan prints in this collection:
