http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45071
Round Nengō Seal: Year of the Ox, Meiji 15 (1882)
Media: Uchiwa-e (団扇絵), color woodblock print, 253 x 260 mm
Actors and Roles:
Nakamura Shikan IV, as Ōtaku Tarō, wears a richly decorated kimono with floral patterns and grips a sword. Suketakaya Takasuke, as Princess Takiyasha, appears in a layered kimono with cloud motifs, her hair adorned with multiple ornaments. The actors are depicted in imagined roles.
 Iwai Hanshirō VIII as Princess Tsuruhime, Onoe Kikugorō V as Ushiwakamaru |
 Onoe Kikugorō V as Princess Wakana, Ichikawa Sadanji I as Toriyama Shusaku |
 Iwai Hanshirō VIII as Tamagohime, Ichikawa Danjurō IX as Jiraiya |
Here is Kunisada's print from 08/1856, featuring the same characters: The Syllable Ma（ま）as in Masakado (まさかど): Iwai Kumesaburō III (岩井粂三郎) as Takiyasha-hime (瀧夜叉姫) and Nakamura Fukusuke I (初代中村福助ヵ) as Ōtaku Tarō (大屋太郎) from the series Seven Calligraphic Models for Each Character in the Kana Syllabary (Seisho nanatsu iroha - 清書七伊呂波) – from Lyon Collection.
In the foreground, a steep bank supports two pine trees (松), while the middle ground shows a peaceful lakeside with scattered villages and trees. The upper section of the print fades into a gradient sky of pale green and blue, reinforcing a tranquil atmosphere.
Executed with Hiroshige’s characteristic economy of line and subtle use of colour, the composition makes striking use of negative space and vertical layering. As noted by Faulkner, this design belongs to a rare group of fan prints by Hiroshige that are small in size, square in format, and lack the typical cut-away lower section found in most uchiwa-e. No other prints from this series are known beyond the two recorded examples.
Reference:
[LIB-3429.2025] Christie’s, New York: Japanese Art, Thursday 24 April 1997 / Sales Catalogue; p. 144, lot 288.
[LIB-1344.2017] Rupert Faulkner. Hiroshige Fan Prints: Victoria and Albert Museum Far Eastern Series. — London: V&A Publications / New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2001; p. 92, Plate 64.
The second print from the series at Rupert Faulkner — Plate 65, View of the Sea at Kisarazu in Kazusa Province (Kazusa Kisarazu Kaijō no Zu)
This uchiwa-e print (230 × 323 mm) presents a bust-length portrait in a three-quarter view, facing left, depicting a fashionable married woman, as indicated by her blackened teeth (ohaguro, 鉄漿)—a practice reserved for married women and courtesans in Edo-period Japan. She is engaged in personal grooming, possibly cleaning her teeth with a toothpick or applying red lipstick (beni, 紅). She wears a blue kimono with circular motifs featuring a stylized eye-like pattern (janome-gasa, 蛇の目傘) layered over a red tie-dyed undergarment (shibori, 絞り). A small hand towel (tenugui, 手拭い), decorated with blue flowers and butterflies, rests over her left shoulder. Her Shimada-style coiffure is elaborately adorned with kanzashi (簪, hair ornaments), including a blue ribbon, a floral-patterned comb, and a gilt hairpin. In her right hand, she holds a red lacquer cup. The soft brown background is decorated with floral roundels, which appear as negative space, meaning the background was printed while the roundels were left uninked.
The print lacks an artist's signature or publisher's seal. Still, it bears a censor’s approval seal (kiwame, 極) and a partially visible date seal, likely 申 (Saru, Year of the Monkey), corresponding to Bunsei 7 (1824).
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) / Toyokuni III (三代豊国) (1786–1865)
Signed: 七十九歳豊国画 (Nanajūkyū-sai Toyokuni ga) – "Drawn by Toyokuni at the age of 79"
Publisher: Unknown: 和泉屋 (Izumiya), active 1845–1870, Marks 02-053 | U101a
Block Carver: Matsushima Daijirō (松嶋大次郎), active 1861–1865; seal: 松嶋彫大 (Matsushima hori-Dai)
Censor/Date Seal: 丑極 – Year of the Ox (1865, Keiō 1), with 極 (Kiwame) approval seal
Media: Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e (団扇絵), color woodblock print, 218 × 270 mm
Series: Mitate Sangokushi [見立三國志]
Actor: Ichimura Kakitsu IV [市村家橘] (Japanese, 1844 – 1903); other names: Onoe Kikugorō V [五代目尾上菊五郎], Onoe Baikō V, Ichimura Uzaemon XIII, Ichimura Kurōemon.
A half-length portrait, three-quarter view of the actor Ichimura Kakitsu IV in a female role. The character wears a richly decorated purple kimono adorned with mandarin orange flowers, maple, ginkgo, and oak leaves and holds a sake cup in her right hand. Under her left arm, we see a roll of hygienic paper (onkotogami, 御髪紙)—a detail that, combined with her hair decoration, suggests a geisha profession. The background features a gradient transitioning from red to green, with cherry blossoms framing the upper portion of the composition. Dishes with food are visible on the left.
The cartouches indicate that this print belongs to the Mitate Sangokushi (見立三國志, Parody of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms) series, suggesting a kabuki-related or literary allusion. The three lines of inscription in the white cartouche remain unread.
This print was produced posthumously. Kunisada passed away on January 12, 1865, according to the Western calendar. In the Japanese calendar, this corresponds to the 15th day of the 12th month in the year Genji 1. This date still falls within the Year of the Rat, which, according to the Western calendar, lasted until January 26, 1865. The Year of the Ox and the first year of the Keiō era (Keiō 1) began on January 27, 1865.
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貴] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豐国] (Japanese, 1786–1865)
Publisher: unknown (Ichi-To, 未詳); Marks 05-012 | U085a; seal (一、ト). Date-aratame seal: Bunsei 5 (文政五年, 1822). Media: Fan print (Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e, 合別横絵団扇絵); 234 × 264 mm. Actor: Matsumoto Kōshirō V [五代相本幸四郎] (Japanese, 1764–1838); other names: Ichikawa Komazō III [市川高麻蔵], Ichikawa Sumizō I [市川寿美蔵]. Role: Hanakawado no Sukeroku [花川戸の助六]. Play: Sukeroku sakura no futae obi [助六桜の二重帯].
Kabuki Actor: Segawa Rokō (瀬川路考), a.k.a. Segawa Kikunojō V [瀬川菊之丞] (Japanese, 1802 – 1832); other names: Segawa Tamon I.
A half-length portrait of the actor Segawa Rokō (瀬川路考) in a three-quarter view, turned slightly to the left. He is depicted in a female role (onnagata), dressed in a vibrant green kimono with a subtle wave-like pattern and scattered floral motifs. The red under-kimono features a white design of waves and a waterwheel (suisha, 水車). A blue towel draped over his shoulder is adorned with white chrysanthemums and pine needles, possibly alluding to The Seven Grasses of Winter (Fuyugusa Nana-kusa, 冬草七草). His hair is styled with a decorative ribbon and a gilt kanzashi hairpin.
The background consists of bold diagonal stripes in alternating shades of black, blue, and lavender, strikingly contrasting the figure. A red and gold toshidama cartouche in the upper right contains the actor’s name, 瀬川路考.
[Thanks to Horst Graebner of Kunisada Project]
A half-length portrait of a young woman in three-quarter view, turned slightly to the right. She is elegantly dressed in a blue kimono adorned with floral motifs, worn over a red under-kimono with a blue collar featuring a lattice pattern. Her elaborately styled hair is adorned with kanzashi hairpins and a comb, indicative of her status, possibly as a courtesan or geisha. The background is filled with intricate textile patterns, including a central pink scroll embellished with golden embroidery of waves and plovers. She holds a rolled scroll featuring a snowflake-like pattern, possibly a stencil used for dyeing fabrics. The blue cartouche on the right reads: 新形美人好 (Shingata bijin konomi) – the series title.
The colorful background, with explosions of tie-dyed floral motifs, is a reminder of how Kunisada made all his thousands of Genji-print designs a visual record of different textile patterns of the day. The title Six Jewel Faces (Mu tama-gao), along with its allusion to the literary theme of Six Jewel Rivers, suggests that this set of fan prints captures the appearance of a half-dozen attractive individuals, and, indeed, the other five works in the set show images of beautiful women, mostly courtesans of the pleasure quarters.
Mitsuuji with Mountain Roses (Yamabuki), from the series “Six Jewel Faces” (Mu tama-gao).
MET Accession Number:2019.3
References:
1) [LIB-2967.2022] Utagawa Kunisada: His world revisited / Catalogue 17, Exhibition March 17-21, 2021. — NY: Sebastian Izzard, LLC., 2021.
2) [LIB-3428.2025] Christie’s, New York: Japanese Prints, Paintings, and Screens, Monday, 24 November 1997 / Sales Catalogue, №№ 84-89.
Description by the latter: "aiban uchiwa-e (22.7 × 29.8 cm.); a beauty against a background of tie-dyed fabric patterns holding a pipe looking at toy birds hanging from bamboo, from the series Mutamagao “Six jewel faces”, the bird decorations alluding to the Jewel River in Noda (Chidori no Tamagawa) in Rikuzen province, signed Kunisada ga".
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