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    Artist: Nabeta Gyokuei [鍋田玉英] (Japanese, 1847 – after 1902)

    Signed: Gyokuei (玉英) with red seal

    Publisher: Iseya Sōemon (伊勢屋惣右衛門, active 1776–1862); red seal on the lantern: 上 (Ue) under a double roof (Marks 02-041 | 156a)

    Date: Meiji period, 1880s

    Media: Woodblock colour print, chūban uchiwa-e (fan print), 245 × 250 mm

    Fan-shaped composition divided diagonally into two contrasting scenes, reminiscent of Yin and Yang:
    • Upper: 陰 (in) — illusion, night, spirit world, fantasy
    • Lower: 陽 () — reality, day, natural world, sensory experience
    The upper section presents a stylized kitsune no gyōretsu (狐の行列, fox procession), a popular motif in Japanese folklore. Silhouetted against a backdrop resembling driving rain, a line of anthropomorphic foxes marches in step, carrying naginata (薙刀), swords, and boxes. The figures parody a grand procession of a daimyō (feudal chieftain) and his entourage en route from their home province to Edo. This part of the print represents an illusory world of supernatural creatures and may reflect a human’s enchanted vision under the fox’s spell. The lead fox bears a lantern marked with the publisher’s seal 上 (Ue) beneath a double roof—cleverly incorporated as an in-world object. This subtle act of visual metafiction merges the real-world production of the print with the fantasy it depicts. It playfully suggests that even the mechanisms of publishing participate in the creation of illusion, echoing the roles of artists, storytellers, and fox spirits alike. The lower section contrasts sharply in tone and style. It depicts a naturalistic domestic setting with a cat crouching beside a bowl of swimming goldfish and a decorative ball (temari, 手毬). The cat peers intently at the bowl—its eyes wide and body tense—in predatory anticipation. This scene's vivid, grounded realism contrasts the monochrome dreamscape above, reinforcing the boundary between visible reality and the realm of illusion.
  • NEW
    Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞], a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代 歌川 豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865) – lower part, fan Artist: Utagawa Sadafusa (歌川貞房) (fl. c. 1825 – 1850) – upper part, with the landscape Signatures: ōju Kunisada ga (應需國貞画) and Sadafusa ga (貞房画); Sadafusa's signature is at the bottom right edge of the upper part and mostly trimmed off Censor seal: kiwame (極) Publisher: Tsuruya Kiemon (鶴屋喜右衛門) (enterprise, c. 1620 – 1898) Media: Ōban tate-e (大判縦絵), color woodblock print, 364 x 247 mm Date: No date seal Series: Scenic views of Edo (Edo shōkei, 江戸勝景) Title: Akuji (あくぢ) The print is divided into two sections. The upper register, designed by Utagawa Sadafusa, presents a stylized bird’s-eye view of the hilltop temple complex at Kan’ei-ji (寛永寺) in Ueno, looking southeast toward Edo Bay. The title Akuji (あくぢ) refers to an Edo-period place name, written in kana, that designated the slope and surrounding district near the southern approach to Kan’ei-ji. Though the name is no longer in common use, Akuji (sometimes written as 悪路次) would have been a familiar geographic reference for contemporary viewers.

    The lower section, a fan-shaped uchiwa-e designed by Utagawa Kunisada, shows two women seated indoors on green tatami flooring. The woman in the foreground rests her chin on her hands and leans forward over a kotatsu (炬燵, heated table) draped with a red-and-yellow checked cloth. A kiseru (煙管) pipe leans against the kotatsu, and a small tobacco stand (tabako-dai, 煙草台) with a burner and pipe tray is placed nearby. A closed book lies on the floor at her side.

    The second woman, seated behind, holds a lacquer tray with small yellow objects—possibly sweets, wax sticks, or slips of paper—whose precise function remains uncertain. Both women wear layered kimono with checked and floral patterns, and their hair is styled in the taka-shimada (高島田) coiffure decorated with ornamental kanzashi (簪).

    A folding screen (byōbu, 屏風) painted with a pine and stream landscape partially encloses the setting, while a tall paper lantern with exposed flame rises behind it. A sliding shōji screen (障子) to the left completes the interior architecture.

  • NEW

    Artist: After Utagawa Kuniteru II [歌川国輝] (Japanese, 1830 – 1876), possibly by Gyokuei [玉英]

    Publisher: No seal

    Date: No date; the original Kuniteru's print dated Meiji 2 (1869)

    Media: Woodblock colour print, chūban uchiwa-e (fan print), 230 x 245 mm

    This fan print reproduces, in miniature, Kuniteru’s 1869 triptych commemorating a sumo fundraising event at Sensō-ji Temple (浅草寺, Sensō-ji, also known as 金龍山, Kinryūzan) in Asakusa (浅草, Asakusa). The scene is framed as a hanging votive painting (ema, 絵馬) bordered in red and gold. Centred is the yokozuna Jinmaku Kyūgorō (陣幕久五郎, Jinmaku Kyūgorō) performing the shiko (四股) leg-stomping pose, flanked by two other wrestlers.

    Seated at left is gyoji (行司) Kimura Shōnosuke (木村庄之助, Kimura Shōnosuke) with his war fan, and at right are Shachi-no-umi Umekichi (鯱ノ海梅吉, Shachi-no-umi Umekichi) holding a sword, and stablemasters Aioi Matsugorō (相生松五郎, Aioi Matsugorō) and Tamagaki (玉垣, Tamagaki). Also present is the gunbai-holding referee, Shikimori Inosuke (式守伊之助, Shikimori Inosuke).

    The background represents a stylized sumo danpatsu-shiki (断髪式) setting. This uchiwa-e version may have been distributed as a commemorative gift to donors who supported the temple.

    金龍山浅草寺奉額縮図 (Kinryūzan Sensōji Hōgaku Shukuzu)

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    Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞], a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代 歌川 豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865) Signed: Kunisada egaku (國貞ゑかく) Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1815 – 1869), san (三) in a circle plus red seal below the date-aratame seal Date-Aratame Seal: 1831 – Year of the Hare (卯), Tenpo 2 plus aratame (改) Media: Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e (団扇絵), color woodblock print, 229 x 266 mm Play: Masago shiranami (真砂白浪), performed at the Nakamura-za, Edo, in 3/1831 Actor: Iwai Kumesaburō II (岩井粂三郎) (1799 – 1836), also known as Iwai Hanshirō VI [岩井半四郎] (Japanese, 1799 – 1836), Iwai Hisajirō I, Baiga (poetry name), Shūka (poetry name). Role: Oritsu (おりつ) A half-length, three-quarter view, head turned slightly to the left portrait of kabuki actor Iwai Kumesaburō II in the female role of Oritsu in the play titled Masago shiranami. The play belongs to the shiranami mono genre, typically centred on thieves and dramatic entanglements.
    Oritsu is wearing a blue outer robe with yellow floral motifs over a red underrobe, a purple collar adorned with an asanoha (麻の葉) pattern, and a white scarf on the shoulders. A padded towel is wrapped around the head. She is looking with astonishment inside an object she holds in her left hand, probably a straw hat.
  • NEW
    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].  
  • NEW
    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 (豊國画) in a red toshidama cartouche Date-aratame seal: Year of the Dog (inu, 戌) Bunsei 9; plus Aratame (改); 1826 Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1815 – 1869); seal: san (三) in a circle Media: Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e (団扇絵), color woodblock print, 227 x 270 mm

    Half-length portrait of a woman wiping her neck with a cotton hand towel (tenugui) decorated with a simple blue dotted pattern. She wears a red and black checked outer robe with a black collar over a red underlayer and a purple collar. A white obi with floral and pine needle motifs is visible. Her coiffure includes a red comb and decorative hairpins.

    The tenugui depicted was a versatile item in the Edo period, used as a souvenir, wrapper, or headband. Although originally made of silk, a shift to cotton occurred during the Tenpō era (1830–1844), following sumptuary laws that banned luxury materials.

    The upper right side of the background features a black fabric bearing a red design of two dragons encircling the kanji 大當 (ōatari, using the older form of 当), meaning "great success". The remaining background shows stylized iris flowers (shōbu, 菖蒲) set against a wavy blue ground.