Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865).
Signature: Kunisada ga [国貞画] in a red double-gourd cartouche.
No publisher's seal, no date or censor's seal is present on this print.
Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1815 – 1869) (inferred)
Date: 1833 (inferred)
Media: Fan print (aiban uchiwa-e); 232 x 289 mm.
Series: Tosei rok’kasen or
Tosei rokkasen [當世六花撰] – two translations: (1) by Sebastian Izzard: Six choice modern flowers, (2) by Horst Graebner: Modern Six [Immortal] Poets.
Character: Kabuki actor
Ichikawa Danjūrō VII [七代目 市川 團十郎]; other names: Ichikawa Ebizō V, Ichikawa Shinnosuke I (Japanese, 1791 – 1859).
Poet: Ōtomo no Kuronushi [大友 黒主] (Japanese, dates unknown)
A fan print featuring a half-length, three-quarter view, turned to the right portrait of Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VII. He wipes off his stage makeup with a white towel (tenugui, 手拭い) held to his face. He wears a black kimono with bold geometric motifs of nested squares, referencing the Mimasu-mon (三升紋, Mitsumasu-mon), the Ichikawa Danjūrō family crest, visible on his sleeves and shoulders. He is seated in front of a lacquered mirror stand, adorned with gilt peonies (牡丹) and arabesque (唐草, karakusa).
The background features a blue and purple gradient decorated with floral roundels, with a red hanging scroll inscribed with Ōtomo no Kuronushi’s name. The series title Tōsei Rokkasen (当世六歌撰) appears in the red cartouche to the left, and the artist's signature is in the double-gourd red cartouche to the right.
This print does not have a reverse side with publisher and date seals, but based on similar prints from the series, it is likely a double-sheet composition originally produced with these details on the back.
Izzard: "... six prints make up this set of fan prints, which compares contemporary artists with classic poets, in this case, Ichikawa Danjūrō VII with
Ōtomo no Kuronushi [
大友 黒主] (Japanese, dates unknown)".
Rok'kasen [六歌仙] – six poetry immortals.
According to Izzard, identification of the portrayed person is made possible by
mimasu-mon [三升] on the robe, scrolling peony on the back of the mirror, and cloth decorated with the characters
Yauan, one of the actor's poetry names, and other signs and symbols, including the inscription of the acter's guild name
Naritaya. The absence of the publisher’s emblem and censorship seals may indicate that this was a privately issued print, not for public use.
Update – 03 March 2025: After acquiring three additional prints from this series, it became evident that these fan prints are actually
double-sheet compositions, with the
publisher’s seal, date seal, and censor’s seal located on the reverse side of the fan. See
SVJP-0469.2025, SVJP-0470.2025, and SVJP-0471.2025 for reference.
Ref: (1) [
LIB-2967.2022] Utagawa Kunisada (1786 – 1865): His world revisited / Catalogue № 17, Exhibition March 17-21, 2021. — NY: Sebastian Izzard, LLC., 2021; p. 130-1, fig. 42). (2)
Lyon Collection.
Mimasu-mon, or Mitsumasu, is the Ichikawa Danjūrō family crest – three wooden measures, nested square boxes.
Provenance:
Paul F. Walter.
Uncut fan print (uchiwa-e) depicting Onoe Kikugorō IV as Karukaya Dōshin parting from his son, Ishidomaru (played by Ichimura Uzaemon XIII), and Kawarasaki Gonjūrō I as Yamazakiya Yogoro in the kabuki play Karukaya Dōshin Tsukushi no Iezuto [苅萱桑門筑紫𨏍], written by 
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