Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Kunisada ga [国貞画] in a red double-gourd cartouche. Publisher: Iseya Sōemon [伊勢屋惣右衛門] (Japanese, c. 1776 – 1862). Date seal and kiwame censor seal: 1840 (Tenpō 11). Media: Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 227 x 293 mm. Title: Benzaiten Shrine at Honjō Block One [ひとつ目乃弁天] (Hitotsume no Benten). Provenance: The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christie's, New York, 2017, lot 341; sold together with 5 other fan prints for $25,000. Before: Christie's, New York, 1997, lot 93 ($5,520). Ref: [LIB-1693.2018] The Collection of Paul Walter. — NY: Christie's, 2017, p. 363. Ref: Israel Goldman, Catalogue 2018, № 31: "Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) A Woman Reading a Letter by the Light of a Lantern. Hitotsume no Benten (One-eyed Benten). 1840. Fan print. Provenance: Japanese Prints, Paintings and Screens, Christie's, New York, 1997, lot 93 ($5,520), The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christie's, New York, 2017, lot 341. Fine impression and colour. Expertly restored wormholes in the lower margin." Markus Sesko comment regarding the series title: "Some time between in the latter half of the 17th century, blind acupuncturist Sugiyama Waichi (1614–1694) cured a neurotic disease afflicting Shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. Tsunayoshi asked Sugiyama what he would like as a reward, he answered that all that he would really desire was just one functioning eye. Now here we arrive at a wordplay. “One eye,” as you know, is Hitotsu-me in Japanese. As Tsunayoshi obviously could not reward Sugiyama with an eye, he gave him the entire first block of the Honjō neighbourhood in Edo, measuring about 1.2 ha. So, Honjō Block One is Honjō Hitotsu-me in Japanese as me not only means “eye,” but also “number.” Sugiyama moved there, but as he was praying to Benzaiten enshrined in the Enoshima-jinja southwest of Kamakura, Tsunayoshi gave Sugiyama permission to erect a small shrine on his new premises that was then dedicated to Benzaiten as well. To spare the old blind man the long trip so to speak. This shrine was named Honjō Hitotsu-me Benzaiten Shrine, short Hitotsu-me Benten, meaning the “Benzaiten Shrine at Honjō Block One.” That is, the label in the print refers to this context, i.e., location, not to a one-eyed Benzaiten. Sugiyama also had some rock formations of the “original” Benzaiten Shrine at Enoshima copied at his place, which was named Iwaya (い王や) (see picture attached). The lantern the woman is holding in the print is inscribed “Imuya” (い無や). Usually, the character mu (無) is not read wa in replacing a syllable, so maybe Imuya can be attributed to artistic freedom on part of Utagawa Kunisada, referring to the local Iwaya garden?"

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Kochoro Kuisada ga [香蝶楼国貞画] in a red double-gourd cartouche Publisher: Enshūya Matabei [遠州屋又兵衛] (Japanese, fl. c. 1768 – 1881). Series: Fashionable Youths [流行若手揃] (Ryuko Wakate Zoroi). Actor: Bandō Minosuke II [坂東蓑助] (Japanese, 1802 – 1863); other names: Morita Kan'ya XI, Bandô Mitsugorō IV. Date-kiwame seals: Bunsei 13 / Tenpō 1 (1830). One more print from the same series (See Waseda 201-2125); not in this collection: Segawa Kikunojō V [瀬川菊之丞] (Japanese, 1802 – 1832); other names: Segawa Tamon I.

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

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, c. 1815 – 1869). Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1845 – 1863); seal Hori Take [彫竹]. Double nanushi censor seals: Mera & Murata (1847-50). Title: Cool Breeze on Tenpōzan Hill in Naniwa [浪花天保山の涼] (Naniwa Tenpōzan no ryō). An uncut fan print (uchiwa-e), depicting a gentleman (most probably kabuki actor Nakamura Utaemon IV) holding a pipe with the view of Tenpōzan Hill [天保山] in Naniwa (Osaka) in the background. A distinctive structure on the left is the Sumiyoshi Lantern [住吉高灯篭] (Sumiyoshi takadōrō), which was destroyed by a typhoon in 1950. The character 翫 – moteasobu – on the gentleman’s robe means "take pleasure, play an instrument". Nakamura Utaemon IV [中村歌右衛門] (Japanese, 1796 – 1852); other names: Nakamura Shikan II, Nakamura Tsurusuke I, Nakamura Tōtarō. The character is visually similar to a gentleman drinking tea on a veranda under the shining moon from the series ‘Moon, Sun, Stars’ [月日星] (Getsu hi hoshi), see SVJP-0211-1.2016: The Moon. As noted by Horst Graebner, the gentleman also resembles the character on another Kunisada's actor print, published in 1852 (Waseda University Cultural Resources Database № 114-0232):    

Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi [歌川 國芳] (Japanese, 1798 – 1861). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, c. 1815 – 1869). Date-aratame seal: 1827 (Bunsei 10). Inscription: Ohan [おはん], Chōemon [長右衛門] | Dainingyō [大人形] | Yoshida Senshi [吉田千四)] | unclear (work in progress). Sam. L. Leiter describes the play in his Kabuki Encyclopedia (1979) p. 183, and Japanese traditional theatre (2014), p. 252 as "Love Suicide of Ohan and Choemon at the Katsura River" (Katsuragawa Renri no Shigarami) [桂川連理柵], a two-act play by Suga Sensuke [菅専助] (ca. 1728 – 1791) written in 1776 for the puppet theatre jūruri and adopted for Osaka kabuki in 1777. Yoshida Senshi, a.k.a. Yoshida Bunzaburo III was a Japanese puppeteer of a Yoshida lineage. The line was established by Yoshida Bunzaburō I [吉田文三郎] (Japanese, fl. 1717 – 1760), who was one of the greatest in the history of Bunraku [人形浄瑠璃] (ningyō jōruri) and who around 1734 introduced the three-man puppet manipulation system. A portrait of Yoshida Senshi, who died in 1829, can be found in the Kunisada's triptych at Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, ID Number 2016:37.2.). The design on our fan print looks very much like the one of Toyokuni I at MFA (Houston): OBJECT NUMBER 2006.378. "Seki Sanjuro as Obiya Choemon and Ichikawa Denzo as Ohan of the Shinonoya from the Kabuki Drama Katsuragawa renri no shigarami (Love Suicide of Ohan and Choemon at the Katsura River)", according to MFA-H published by someone Tsuruya in c. 1810 (though the publisher's seal is Suzuki Ihei [鈴木伊兵衛] (seal name Suzui [鈴伊]), Marks 01-028 | 502; the censor's seal is gyōji, date 1811-14).  Interestingly enough, the description provided by Kuniyoshi Project is this "Actors: Onoe Kikugorô III as Shinanoya Ohan (おはん, female) and Ichikawa Ebizô V as Obiya Choemon (長右衛門, male). Play: Go chumon shusu no Obiya (御注文繻子帯屋). Date: 3^rd month of 1840. Theater: Kawarasaki. Publisher: Iba-ya Sensaburô". The play Go chumon shusu no Obiya was indeed staged at Kawarazaki theatre in 1840 (Tenpō 11), 3rd month; Ichikawa Ebizō V was indeed playing Obiya Choemon but Onoe Kikugorō III had the role of  Kataoka Kōzaemon, not of Ohan, as can be seen on Kunisada's diptych at MFA (Boston): ACCESSION NUMBER 11.40671a-b. 

Artist: Utagawa Sadahide [歌川 貞秀], a.k.a. Gountei Sadahide [五雲亭 貞秀] (1807 – c. 1878/9). Signed: Gountei Sadahide ga [五雲亭貞秀画] Pubisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, 1815 – 1869) Date-aratame seal: Bunsei 13 / Tenpō 1 (1830). Ref: Ritsumeikan University # Z0172-587. Title: The tatami night robe of Iwao [巌の畳夜着] (Kyusue Iwao no tatami yogi); 灸すゑ巌の畳夜着（きゅうすえいわおのたたみよぎ。「灸すえ」– one of the main melodies in katōbushi (河東節) type of jōruri [浄瑠璃]. For a detailed explanation in Japanese, see also HERE). The night robe of Iwao is decorated with characters resembling Arabic numerals, and Latin and Cyrillic letters. A similar kimono can be seen on Kunisada's print Hotoke Gozen, Mirror of Virtuous and Wise Women (Kenjo Kagami) at RISD museum accession number 13.1383, portraying Hotoke Gozen (佛御前), a character of The Tale of the Heike [平家物語] (Heike Monogatari); published by Yamamotoya Heikichi (山本屋平吉) (Japanese, fl. c. 1812 – 1886) in the 1830s (see below). A series of three prints is dedicated to a katōbushi performance of the Soga-themed plays.

SVJP-0270-1.2019: Yukari no Edo-zakura

SVJP-0270-2.2019: The tatami night robe of Iwao

SVJP-0270-3.2019: Tangled Hair and the Evening Braided Hat

They all have a background of hail patterns (Arare-ko-mon) [霰小紋], similar to Kunisada’s Iwai Kumesaburō II as An no Heibei [SVJP-0304.2019], see below.