Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III). Woman Holding the Votive Portrait of Iwai Tōjaku as Shirai Gonpachi / Fan print, 1841.

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川国貞] (Japanese, 1786–1865)
Signed: 香蝶楼国貞画 (Kōchōrō Kunisada ga)
Publisher: Iseya Ichiemon [伊勢屋市右衛門] (Japanese, fl. c. 1820s–1860s); seal: Tsuji [辻]; Marks 16-029 | 143a
Censor Seal: 1841 (Tenpō 12, 丑 year of the Ox) + kiwame seal
Media: Fan print (uchiwa-e); woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and colour on paper; 228 × 300 mm
Title: Woman Holding the Votive Portrait of Iwai Tōjaku as Shirai Gonpachi (Iwai Tōjaku no Shirai Gonpachi ema-e o motsu onna, 岩井杜若の白井権八絵馬絵を持つ女)
Description:
Half-length portrait of a young woman, three-quarter view, facing right and gazing toward a framed votive portrait (ema-e, 絵馬絵) of the kabuki actor Iwai Tōjaku (岩井杜若, 1776–1847) in the role of the tragic outlaw Shirai Gonpachi (白井権八), depicted gripping a sword and wrapped in a towel, which she holds in her left hand. In her right hand, she holds a blue-and-white neck towel. She wears a layered ensemble, including a blue kimono decorated with spider webs entangling leaves, and a brown obi patterned with floral motifs. The background features diagonally layered textile panels in red, green, violet, brown, and blue, each filled with asanoha (麻の葉) geometric patterns — a motif based on regularly repeating hexagons.

Actor: Iwai Tōjaku (岩井杜若, 1776–1847)
a.k.a. Iwai Hanshirō V (岩井半四郎), Iwai Kumesaburō I (岩井粂三郎), Shōkaan Eikyū (松菴永久)
Poetry names: Baiga (梅雅), Tōjaku (杜若)
Guild: Yamatoya (大和屋)
Nicknames: Me Senryō, Ōdayū, Tōjaku Hanshirō

Provenance:
Drouot, Audap & Associés, Paris; June 12, 2025; Lot 45; René Scholten (Dutch, 1943 – 2001)

Reference image ka792-r (Kunisada Project)

With special thanks to Horst Graebner.