Artist: Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (歌川国貞) (1786–1865)

Signed: By the brush of the old Toyokuni (Toyokuni rō hitsu, 豊国老筆)

Publisher: Iseya Sōemon (伊勢屋惣右衛門), Marks reference 19-047 | 156d, seal Hanmoto, Ue (板元, 上)

Date/Kiwame Seal: 丑 極 (Year of the Ox & kiwame, Kieō 1, 1865)

Media: Uchiwa-e (fan print), color woodblock print, 218 × 280 mm

Title: Musashi (むさし)

Series: Collection of the Dinner Plates of Enchanting Appearances (艶色 さら づくし, Enshoku sara tsukushi), figuratively meaning "Collection of the Dinner Plates of Charming Looking Women."

Half-length portrait of a woman seated indoors, facing slightly right. She wears an elaborate hairstyle adorned with multiple kanzashi hairpins. Her kimono is red with a white tie-dye (shibori) pattern, similar to examples in museum collections. A deep purple background features cherry blossoms and flowing water motifs. The sleeves are adorned with embroidered gourd or squash flowers over green fabric. She rests her cheek on her left hand while frying tempura on a small stove with a wire mesh, using chopsticks in her right hand. A lacquered tray to her left holds a blue-and-white porcelain bowl and several pieces of cooked tempura. A candle on a stick stand burns to her left.

Musashi refers to the Musashiya restaurant in Susaki, a well-known establishment depicted by Hiroshige.

The print is trimmed on the left, partially cutting off the publisher and date/kiwame seals. It is possible that this print was published posthumously.

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Ichiyōsai Toyokuni hitsu [一陽斎豊国筆]. Inscriptions:  [松竹梅] Shochikubai = pine (matsu, 松), bamboo (take, 竹), and plum (ume, 梅) – an auspicious grouping known as “The Three Friends of Winter“; [三福追] (Sanpuku tsui) – the three delights, or pleasures. Date seal and aratame censor seal: Ansei 2, 1^st month (1855). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, c. 1815 – 1869). Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1845 – 1863); seal: Hori Take [彫竹]. Kabuki actor Onoe Kikugorō V [五代目尾上菊五郎] (Onoe Baikō V, Ichimura Kakitsu IV, Ichimura Uzaemon XIII, Ichimura Kurōemon, Japanese, 1844 – 1903) giving candies to the memorial portrait of his predecessor, Ichimura Takenojō V [市村竹之丞] (Ichimura Uzaemon XII, Ichimura Kamenosuke, Ichimura Toyomatsu, Japanese, 1812 – 1851); the latter is dressed in a green robe adorned with a crest (mon) of a kōrin-style crane in a tortoiseshell (octagon), the hanging scroll border decorated with bamboo under snow; the collar of Onoe's kimono decorated with plum blossoms, another plum blossom arrangement decorates the screen behind him. Actors identified by Horst Graebner. Two fan prints from this series in Varshavsky Collection:

SVJP-0335.2021

SVJP-0336.2021

 

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 red toshidama cartouche Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1845 – 1863), seal: 彫竹 – hori Take. Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1845 – 1847). Media: Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 230 x 295 mm. Combined date seal and kiwame censor seal: Ansei 6 (1859). Title: Princess Sotoori [衣通姫] (Sotoori-hime) – Sotoori-hime was a concubine of Emperor Ingyo (reigned AD 412-53), and one of the Three Gods of Japanese Poetry [和歌三神] (Waka sanjin). Series: Chronicles of Elegant Women [風雅女史傳] (Fūga joshiden). The sign on the torii (Shinto shrine gates) reads: Mountain king shrine [山王宮] – it is the Sannō Shrine at the Nagata Riding Grounds in Edo. A print with these gates is at MFA (Boston) # 21.9853. Other prints from the same series in this collection: SVJP-0343.2021 — Tamagiku: SVJP-0400.2023 — Saiko: Note: Special thanks to Horst Graebner, who helped decipher and understand the meaning.  

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞], a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786–1865). Signed: 五渡亭国貞画 (Gototei Kunisada ga). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1820–1850). Date-Aratame Seal: 寅改, Tora-aratame, Tenpō 1 (1830). Media: Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e (団扇絵), color woodblock print, 229 × 266 mm. Actors and Roles:

• Bandō Minosuke II [坂東蓑助] (Japanese, 1802–1863); other names: Morita Kan'ya XI, Bandō Mitsugorō IV.
  • Depicted as a goldfish vendor (kingyo-uri, 金魚売).
• Iwai Kumesaburō II (二代目 岩井 粂三郎) (Japanese, 1799–1836); other names: Iwai Hanshirō VI, Iwai Hisajirō I, Baiga (poetry name), Shūka (poetry name).
  • Depicted as a geisha.

Full-length view of Iwai Kumesaburō II as a geisha, standing and holding a glass container with a goldfish. She wears an olive kimono decorated with white plum blossoms and a blue obi. She carries a folding fan (扇子, sensu) in the back and hygienic tissues (御髪紙, onkotogami) in the front, reinforcing her identity. Her companion, Bandō Minosuke II, a goldfish vendor, sits nearby, adjusting a towel on his shoulder, wearing a blue kimono with stylized butterflies. In the background is a festival procession with a large float (dashi, 山車), a rooster on top, a crowd, and banners. The inscription 天王御祭礼 (Ten’ō Go-sairei) confirms that this scene takes place during the Ten’ō Festival, an important Edo-period event in Nihonbashi Kobuna-chō, associated with Gozu Tennō (牛頭天王), a deity protecting against plagues. This print is an example of benigerai-e (紅嫌絵, "red-avoiding pictures"), characterized by the absence of red pigments and the use of Prussian blue and olive tones. Produced in Tenpō 1 (1830), this colour scheme reflects a stylistic trend in early 19th-century ukiyo-e. However, in this case, the absence of red may be due to deliberate artistic choice or the natural fading of red pigments over time. A closely related print from the same festival-themed series depicts a nearly identical composition featuring different actors and a different festival. Title: "Asakusa Shimanrokusennichi" (浅草四万六千日). Festival: Sanja Festival at Sensō-ji (associated with the hōzuki market). Actors: Nakamura Shikan II as a water vendor (mizuu-uri) and Segawa Kikunojō V in a role similar to the geisha in our print. While not depicting actual kabuki performances, these prints serve as actor-centric promotional works, using seasonal festivals as a recognizable and engaging backdrop for Edo audiences. They share a common design structure, suggesting they were created using a standardized template, with variations in actors, festivals, and small details. This approach allowed Kunisada to efficiently produce multiple fan prints, catering to kabuki enthusiasts who collected actor portraits. These prints exhibit characteristics of mitate-e (見立絵), where actors are placed in imagined or symbolic settings unrelated to specific stage roles, further emphasizing their public personas rather than any particular performance.

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Ōju Toyokuni ga [応需豊国画], in a toshidama cartouche. Double nanushi censor seals Mera & Murata (1846-50). Publisher: Kojimaya Jūbei [小嶋屋重兵衛] (Japanese, fl. c. 1797 – 1869). Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII [市川団十郎] (Ichikawa Ebizō VI, Ichikawa Shinnosuke II, Japanese, 1823 – 1854) watches the sunrise over Mount Fuji. The complete set of series Moon, Sun, Stars [月日星] (tsuki-hi-hoshi/boshi),  three sources of light (sankō) [三光]:

SVJP-0211-1.2016: The Moon

SVJP-0211-2.2016: The Sun

SVJP-0211-3.2016: The Stars