Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞], a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代 歌川 豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865) Signed: Kōchō Kunisada ga (香蝶國貞画) Publisher: No seal Date: 1839 – no date seal, no censor seal (date per R. Schaap). Media: Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e (団扇絵), color woodblock print, 228 x 298 mm Actor: Onoe Kikugorō III [尾上菊五郎] (Japanese, 1784 – 1849); other names: Ōkawa Hashizō I, Onoe Baikō III, Onoe Matsusuke II, Onoe Eizaburō I. The actor's name is not written.

Half-length, three-quarter portrait of kabuki actor Onoe Kikugorō III (尾上菊五郎) with head turned slightly to the right, eyes wide. He wears a pale blue outer robe with a repeating white grid (kōshi) pattern and dark blue butterflies composed of flowers and gibbon monkeys. A white towel with blue stripes is tucked over the shoulder.

He holds a hand drum (tsuzumi) decorated with gilt floral motifs on black and laced with red cords. The background is a framed screen showing a landscape of cherry blossoms on hills set against a red-to-blue gradient sky.

It is possible that all identifying information, including the publisher, censor, date, role, and other details, was written on the reverse side of the print.

Our print is the fourth of the untitled series of fan prints with half-length kabuki actors and a background with a framed painting.

Ichikawa Ebizō V	Nakamura Utaemon IV	Arashi Kichisaburo III

Reference: [LIB-1212.2017] Robert Schaap. Kunisada: Imaging, drama and beauty. — Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2016; p. 97, pl. 80. [Thanks Horst Graebner of Kunisada Project].  

Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni II [歌川豊国二代] a.k.a. Toyoshige [豊重] (Japanese, (1777 – 1835) Signed: 豊国狂筆 (Toyokuni kyō-hitsu, "mad brush of Toyokuni") Publisher: Maru-Jū (丸重), seal Jū (重), Marks reference 08-079 | U190a (1826–1829, only on fan prints) Censor Seal: Kiwame + Bunsei 12, Year of the Ox (丑), 1829 Media: Uchiwa-e (fan print), color woodblock print, 231 x 297 mm Provenance: Nelkin Collection Full-body, frontal view of Ichikawa Danjūrō VII, abstractly depicted as a bat, with only his head, topknot, and white collar emerging from the upper centre of a voluminous, stylized red cloak. The cloak is sharply angular and wing-shaped, evoking a bat in flight, while also suggesting the kanji character 市 (ichi) — the first character of Ichikawa (市川) — making the figure a visual pun on the actor’s name. The cloak is rendered in a saturated reddish-brown colour known as shū-iro (赭色) or tan-red, a bold and dramatic hue traditionally associated with the Shibaraku role. This distinctive costume — known as the sugata no iro (姿の色) — was used to signal heroic power, dominance, and theatrical presence. The white stripes across the cloak allude to the Ichikawa family crest (三升, mitsumasu) — three nested rice-measuring boxes — an emblem long associated with the Danjūrō lineage. Tucked at the waist and partially emerging from beneath the cloak is a massive stylized sword — a visual exaggeration of the ōdachi (大太刀) worn in the Shibaraku role. Such a sword is not functional but a key prop in aragoto-style performance, symbolizing exaggerated strength and heroic resolve. Danjūrō’s face is adorned with the iconic kumadori (隈取) makeup — deep red lines accentuating his brow and cheeks — a hallmark of aragoto roles and especially of Shibaraku, where the protagonist enters with a thunderous call and righteous fury. To the upper right is the signature 豊国狂筆 (Toyokuni kyō-hitsu) – "the mad brush of Toyokuni", used here by Utagawa Toyokuni II. The kiwame (極) censorship seal and a date seal appear in the lower right. To the left is a vertical kyōka poem, followed by the actor’s name and a red double gourd (ひさご, hisago) — another signature emblem of Danjūrō VII. This print is not a literal depiction of a scene from Shibaraku but a bold emblematic portrait, condensing multiple aspects of Danjūrō VII’s iconic identity: his name, crest, theatrical role, and stage persona — all rendered in a single symbolic form.