Ref.: (1) [LIB-1197.2016] Arendie and Henk Herwig. Heroes of the kabuki stage: an introduction to kabuki with retellings of famous plays, illustrated by woodblock prints. — Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2004; pp. 243-249.
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Kabuki actor: Matsumoto Kōshirō V [五代目松本幸四郎] (Japanese, 1764-1838); other names: Ichikawa Komazō III, Ichikawa Sumizō I. Role: Nikki Danjo (仁木弾正): "Evil retainer Nikki Danjo who plots to overthrow his lord in the play Precious incense and the bush clover of Sendai (Meiboku sendai hagi)" [R. Kruml]. Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Block cutter: Horikō (Kiyomizu) Ryūzō [彫工 柳三]. Publisher: Ebisuya Shoshichi [恵比寿屋庄七], Kinshōdō (Japanese, fl. c. 1846 – 1883). Year: 1863 (Bunkyū 3), 7th month. Size: Vertical ōban, hōsho paper. Signed: Nanajuhassai (aged seventy-eight) Toyokuni ga within toshidama cartouche. Censor’s seal: date-aratame. This print is from a series of portraits that Kunisada undertook very late in life and has been named Kinshodo-ban yakusha okubi-e (Kinshodo’s Large-Head Actor Portraits) in reference to the publisher, Ebisuya Shochochi of Kinshodo. The series depicted great actors in their famous roles from the past and present. Ref.: (1) [LIB-1212.2017] Robert Schaap. Kunisada: Imaging, drama and beauty. — Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2016, p. 118 and 167 (№ 42):
Ref.: (1) [LIB-1197.2016] Arendie and Henk Herwig. Heroes of the kabuki stage: an introduction to kabuki with retellings of famous plays, illustrated by woodblock prints. — Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2004; pp. 243-249.
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An uncut fan print showing Otsu-e [大津絵] (Otsu pictures). Artist: Utagawa Sadahide [歌川貞秀] (Japanese, 1807 – 1879). Signed: Gountei Sadahide ga [五雲亭貞秀画] (Picture by Gountei Sadahide); characters on the Otsu-e. Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, c. 1815 – 1869). Published: c. 1849. Inscription in a paper-weight shaped cartouche: [大津追 分絵の図] Ōtsu-oi wake-e no zu (Following Otsu – image of separate pictures) No date seal, no censor seal (privately printed?) Media: Fan print (uchiwa-e, 団扇絵), 235 x 298 mm. -
Fuchi: 38 x 22 x 12 mm. Kashira: 32 x 17 x 11 mm Main material: shakudo; surface treatment: nanako-ji; other metals: gold, shibuichi and copper; decorative technique: iroe takazogan. Signed: Nyudo Jounishi 人道 乗西 (possibly) -
Iron tsuba of oval form with design of cherry blossoms in positive and negative silhouette openwork (ji-sukashi and in-sukashi). Details chiseled in kebori technique. Rounded rim. Copper sekigane. Higo school, Hayashi sub-school. Unsigned. Attributed to third generation Tōhachi (1723-1791). Edo period, 18th century (Hōreki / Meiwa era: 1751-1772). Height: 78.7 mm. Width: 72.2 mm. Rim thickness: 5.2 mm. Center thickness: 5.2 mm. Provenance: Sasano Masayuki Collection, № 289: "Hayashi. Third generation Tohachi (died in in the third year of Kansei, 1791 at the age of sixty-nine). Early 18th century (Hohreki / Meiwa era). " -
An unsigned print, presumably by Katsukawa Shunshō that presumably depicts a kabuki actor Ichikawa Monnosuke II. I was not able to find any reference of the image. Size: Hosoban. According to The actor's image. Print makers of the Katsukawa School. Timothy T. Clark and Osamu Ueda with Donald Jenkins. Naomi Noble Richard, editor The Art Institute of Chicago in association with Princeton University Press, 1994, Ichikawa Monnosuke II was born in 1743, in Ōji Takinogawa, Edo. He died on October 19, 1974. His specialities were young male roles (wakashu) and male leads (tachi yaku). He was considered to be one of the four best young actors of his day. -
Iron tsuba of oval form with the design of two immortals (Gama Sennin with the toad upon his head and Tekkai Sennin with his iron crutch) beside a waterfall carved in low relief with a high relief effect (takabori) and with details inlaid in gold. A waterfall carved on the reverse. Nakago-ana is plugged with copper sekigane. Unsigned. Allegedly, Mito School.
Edo period, ca. 1700.
Size: Height: 87.0 mm; Width: 82.8 mm; Thickness: 4.4 mm; Weight: 179 g.
No longer available. -
Isoda Koryūsai (礒田 湖龍斎, 1735–1790), flourished: 1769 to 1790. The print lacks signature (signature erased).Attributed definitely to Koryūsai: Jacob Pins, #491 [p.202] - Saigyo Hoshi admiring Mount Fuji. Signature erased but convincingly attributed to Koryusai. Tikotin Museum, Haifa. Catalogue raisonné: Allen Hockley: A3-J-5 (p. 261).
Saigyō Hōshi (西行 法師, 1118 – March 23, 1190) was a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. -
Artist (attributed, no signature): Suzuki Harunobu [鈴木 春信] (Japanese, c. 1725 – 1770). The title is taken from [LIB-1478.2013] Gian Carlo Calza, Stefania Piotti. Poem of the pillow and other stories. — Phaidon Press, 2010; pp. 148-9. Alternative title: Man sucking woman's breast and a cat sitting under a bonsai tree. The open book beside the couple reads 子春 (Koharu). Woodblock print from the series Mirror Picture of Japan (Wakoku kagami); Size: Horizontal chuban; 21 x 26 cm. -
A young woman playing a four-string musical instrument with a bow (kokyū). Series: Assortments of Beauties Accomplishments [美人芸盡] (Bijin gei-zukushi). Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞]; a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Kochoro Kunisada ga [香蝶楼 国貞画] in a red double gourd cartouche. Publisher: Ibaya Kyūbei [伊場屋久兵衛] (Japanese, 1804 – 1851); seal: Hanmoto, Kyū [板元久] (Marks 19-040 | 126e) Date seal: Bunsei 12 (1829). Censors' seal: Kiwame. Size: Fan print (uchiwa-e). -
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]: -
Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi [歌川 國芳] (1798 – 1861). Kabuki actors Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII and Arashi Rikan III as sumo wrestlers Nuregami Chōgorō (L) and Hanaregoma Chōkichi (R), respectively. Signed: Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi ga (一勇斎 國芳 画) in a double gourd-shaped cartouche with Yoshi Kiri seal. Publisher: No seal. Date seal and double nanushi censor seal: Mera & Watanabe, 1852. Media: Fan print (uchiwa-e, 団扇絵), 231 x 295 mm. Theme: Nine-act drama (11 scenes) Futatsu Chōchō Kuruwa Nikki [双蝶々曲輪日記] (A Diary of Two Butterflies in the Pleasure Quarters) written by Takeda Izumo II, Namiki Senryū I, Miyoshi Shōraku (7/1749) as puppet play Bunraku [文楽], adopted for Kabuki theatre by Arashi San'emon IV. “The sumo wrestler Nuregami Chōgorō is trying to ransom the courtesan Azuma for Yogoro, in whose debt he stands. Hiraoka Goemon, who is at odds with Yogorō and Azuma, is the patron of the amateur wrestler Hanaregoma Chōkichi. Chōgorō purposely loses to Chōkichi and then asks the latter to stop Goemon's ransoming of Azuma; Chōkichi refuses, however, and they quarrel. Admonished for his dissipation by his sister Oseki, Chōkichi is going to commit ritual suicide (seppuku) as an apology for his behavior, but Chōgorō, who happens along just then, prevents him. The two men swear blood brotherhood. […] The confrontation between Chōgorō and Chōkichi in the Sumōba scene, acted in the exaggerated style called aragoto, is a major highlight of the work. The scene in Yohei's home, known as Hikimado, presents the unfolding of Kabuki's eternal conflict between duty and feelings, here represented by the act of opening the skylight (hikimado) to which Chōgorō is tied”. [Samuel L. Leiter. Kabuki Encyclopedia: an English-language adaptation of Kabuki Jiten. — Westport, CT; London: Greenwood Press, 1979, pp. 70-71]. See also James R. Brandon and Samuel L. Leiter. Kabuki plays on stage, vol. 1, pp. 234-258. — Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2002. Actors: Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII [市川団十郎] (Japanese, 1823 – 1854); other names: Ichikawa Ebizō VI, Ichikawa Shinnosuke II. Arashi Rikan III [嵐璃寛] (Japanese, 1812 – 1863); other names Arashi Tokusaburō III, Arashi Kicchō I, Onoe Wasaburō I. Another print in this collection with the same theme: SVJP-0331.2020.
Reference images:
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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: 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.
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Iron tsuba of round form (width > height) decorated with a squirrel (on the face) and bamboo (on the reverse) motif in sahari flat inlay (hira-zōgan). Signed: Hazama (間) Size: 75.1mm x 75.9mm, thickness of seppa-dai 5.4mm. Early 18th century, mid Edo. Haynes/Torigoye: "There is another name for Hazama tsuba: the Kameyama school. In the period from Hōei to Kyōhō (1704-36) at Kameyama, in the province of Ise, the Kunitomo family made this style of tsuba" [...] The two artists who are best known for the sahari style of inlaid tsuba are Sadahide and Masahide" [...] The signature Hazama should be considered as that of Masahide". Sahari inlay is the distinctive characteristics of Hazama school. Sahari is an alloy of copper, tin, lead, zinc and silver. Hazama tsuba was carved patterns at first, then poured heated into the carvings on iron ground. Because it is an alloy, sahari shows different colors in each tsuba. According to Merrily Baird [Symbols, p. 163], "squirrels (risu) ... have no symbolic importance". NBTHK certificate №448388. -
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Iron tsuba of round form with a dense combination of symbols: slanting rays of light (shakoh) Christian motif (Jesuit's IHS symbol), also often described as "tokei" or "clock gear", wild goose in flight, bracken, and lozenges in openwork (sukashi). Copper sekigane. Edo period.Size: 76.0 x 72.6 x 6.2 mm
Unsigned.
For information regarding shakoh tsuba see article 'Kirishitan Ikenie Tsuba by Fred Geyer at Kokusai Tosogu Kai; The 2nd International Convention & Exhibition, October 18-23, 2006, pp. 84-91.
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Iron tsuba of round form decorated with eight roundels – circular emblems of flowers and/or family crests (mon) made of cast brass, pierced and chiselled in kebori, and with flat brass inlay (hira-zōgan) of vines or leaves all over the plate. Both hitsu-ana trimmed with brass. Nakago-ana of trapezoidal form. A distinctive character of this tsuba is a mon at 6 hours depicting tomoe (comma). Yoshirō school (Kaga-Yoshirō). Attributed to Koike Yoshirō Naomasa himself. Unsigned. The Momoyama or early Edo period, end of the 16th to the first half of the 17th century (1574-1650). Size: Diameter 82.0 mm, thickness 3.8 mm at seppa-dai, 3.4 mm at rim. -
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. Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. C. 1845 – 1847), seal: San [三] (Marks 11-001 | 127c). Block carver: Matsushima Fusajirō [松嶋房次郎] (Japanese, fl. 1843 – 1850); seal [彫工房] – Hori kō Fusa. Double nanushi censor seal: Kunigasa & Watanabe (1849-50). Actor: Ichikawa Danjūrō VII [市川団十郎] (Japanese, 1791 – 1859); other names: Ichikawa Ebizō V [市川海老蔵], Ichikawa Hakuen II, Ichikawa Shinnosuke I. Play: Yukari no Hana Iro mo Yoshiwara [紫花色吉原], performed at the Kawarazaki Theater (Edo) from the 5th day of the 5th lunar month of Kaei 3 (1850) (see Kabuki Playbill at MFA (Boston) № 11.27996).
Sano Jirōzaemon [佐野次郎左衛門] – provincial commoner who killed a famous Yoshiwara courtesan named ManjiyaYatsuhashi [万字屋 八ツ橋] (on the second sheet of the pair):
Another Kunisada's print with the same characters in the same play and same performance can be seen at MFA (Boston) № 11.40190.
SVJP-0298.2019: Ichikawa Ebizō V as Sano Jirōzaemon.
SVJP-0297.2019: Iwai Kumesaburō III as Manjiya Yatsuhashi
One more example can be seen at the two upper images in Waseda University Cultural Resources Database, № 006-2707:
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Title: Fourth lunar month [卯月] (Uzuki no zu); Series: Fashionable Twelve Months (Imayo juni-kagetsu). Another version of translation: Modern Beauties of Twelve Months. Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni I [歌川豊国] (1769–1825). Pubisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, 1815 – 1869), seal: Dansendō [伊場仙]. Signed: Toyokuni ga and sealed with toshidama. Date-kiwame seal: Ushi (ox), Bunsei 5 (1822). Size: double-sheet uncut fan print ( aiban uchiwa-e), 219 x 295 mm.
