//19th century
  • NEW

    Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III). Chūshingura, Act VI (Rokudanme): Ichikawa Komazō V as Kanpei and Segawa Tamon II as Okaru / Fan Print, 1834.

    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: 1834 — date aratame seal: 午改 – Year of the Horse,  Tenpō 5. Media: Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e (団扇絵), color woodblock print, 235 x 263 mm. Play: Chūshingura, Act VI (Chūshingura, rokudanme, 忠臣蔵 六段目) Actors and Roles: Ichikawa Komazō V [市川高麗蔵] (Japanese, 1812 – 1849); other names: Matsumoto Kinshō I, Matsumoto Kōshirō VI, Matsumoto Kinshi.

    Role: Hayano Kanpei (早野勘平)

    Segawa Tamon II [瀬川多門)] (Japanese, 1815-1857); other names: Nakamura Daikichi III, Nakamura Matsue 4.5, Sawamura Kitō, Nakamura Keishi, Nakamura Naruo.

    Role: Okaru (おかる), Kanpei's wife or lover

    This print depicts a dramatic moment from Chūshingura, Act VI, where Kanpei and Okaru are living in seclusion at the home of Okaru's parents in the countryside. Kanpei, wearing a plaid kimono (格子, kōshi pattern) with a yellow sash, sits cross-armed, gazing at his lover with a tense expression. Okaru, dressed in a blue kimono adorned with butterflies and a diaper motif, with black and red accents, leans toward Kanpei in a pleading gesture. The background landscape, enclosed within a decorative cloud frame, suggests a possible mitate (thematic reinterpretation) of the scene. We were unable to confirm these actors in these roles in either 1834 or 1833. The red cartouche on the right reads 忠臣蔵 六段目 (Chūshingura, Act VI).

    Favorites
    Details
  • NEW

    Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III). Onoe Kikugorō III as Denbei and Iwai Kumsesaburō II as Oshun / Fan Print, 1825.

    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: 1825 — date aratame seal: 酉改 – Year of the Rooster, Bunsei 8 Media: Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e (団扇絵), color woodblock print, 230 x 270 mm Play: Sono uwasa sakura no irodoki (其噂桜色時), Nakamura-za, 3/1825 Actors and Roles: Onoe Kikugorō III [尾上菊五郎] (Japanese, 1784 – 1849); other names: Ōkawa Hashizō I, Onoe Baikō III, Onoe Matsusuke II, Onoe Eizaburō I.

    Role: Denbei (伝兵へ)

    Iwai Kumesaburō II [岩井粂三郎] (Japanese, 1799 – 1836); other names: Iwai Hanshirō VI, Iwai Hisajirō I; poetry names Baiga, Shūka.

    Role: Oshun (おしゆん)

    A dramatic encounter between Denbei and Oshun, set beneath a blooming cherry tree. The background features a fenced garden and a veranda, suggesting a domestic setting with a sliding fusuma (襖) screen on the right.

    Denbei, dressed in a blue striped kimono adorned with cherry blossoms and chrysanthemums, sits on the floor (tatami?), gripping a length of cloth, the other end of which is held by Oshun. Oshun, wearing a plaid kimono (格子, kōshi pattern) with butterflies and a red and black obi featuring gold cloud brocade, leans forward with an assertive gesture, pulling at the cloth Denbei holds. Her hairstyle is highly ornamented with combs and pins.

    Favorites
    Details
  • NEW

    Utagawa Sadahide. Matsukaze and Murasame: Brine-Gathering Maidens of Suma Bay / Fan print, 1840s.

    Artist: Utagawa Sadahide [歌川貞秀] or Gountei Sadahide [五雲亭貞秀] (Japanese, 1807 – c. 1879) Signed: Gountei Sadahide ga [五雲亭貞秀画] in a beige 'bark' cartouche Publisher: Tsuruya Kiemon (鶴屋喜右衛門) (enterprise, c. 1620 – 1898); Marks 22-066 | 553m Date: early 1840s – no date seal, no censor seal Media: Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e (団扇絵), color woodblock print, 233 x 304 mm The composition is set against a coastal landscape, featuring a large pine tree and the two maidens carrying brine buckets on shoulder yokes, dressed in layered red and patterned robes. The background includes stylized waves, flying plovers, two sailing vessels, and a pink-hued sky. Matsukaze and Murasame were sisters who lived as brine-gatherers along the shores of Suma Bay. Their story is immortalized in the Noh play Matsukaze (松風):
    The exiled nobleman Ariwara no Yukihira (在原行平) stayed in Suma and fell in love with them. After his departure, the sisters mourned his absence, with Matsukaze in particular losing herself in longing and madness. The pine tree (松, matsu) symbolizes her unfulfilled love, as matsu also means "to wait" in Japanese.
    Suma Bay (須磨浦, Suma-ura) is a coastal area in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, located along the Seto Inland Sea (瀬戸内海, Seto Naikai). It is historically significant and a prominent setting in classical Japanese literature, particularly in The Tale of Genji and The Tale of the Heike.
    Favorites
    Details
  • NEW

    Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Images of Sansen: Tate River / Fan print, 1856.

    Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (1797–1861) Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga (一勇齋國芳画) with kiri seal Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1815 – 1869); seal san (三) in a circle Censor Seal: aratame (改) Date Seal: tatsu, ni (辰 弍) — 2nd month of the Year of the Dragon, Ansei 3 (2/1856) Block Carver: Yokokawa Takejirō (横川竹二郎) (fl. 1845–1863); seal: 彫竹 (hori Take) Media: Rigid fan print (Aiban Yoko-e Uchiwa-e, 合判横絵 団扇絵), 227 × 286 mm Series: Images of Sansen (三川圖會, Sansen zue), or The Three Rivers Illustrated The print depicts a summer scene along Tatekawa, or Takegawa (竪川), a canal running east-west along the east bank of the Sumida River (隅田川) in Edo (Tokyo). In the background, boats are seen floating on the Sumida River, likely engaged in yūsuzumi (夕涼み, evening cool-off), a popular summer pastime during the Edo period. In the foreground, a woman dressed in a deep blue kimono with red underlayers and a red obi sits inside a riverside establishment. A towel rests on her arms as she reaches for a sliced watermelon. Her hair is styled with decorative hairpins, a comb, and a red ribbon. She is positioned against a bamboo railing that opens onto the river, framing the distant bridge and water traffic. Inscription in the red cartouche to the left of the woman's head: Sansen zue, Tate kawa; 三川圖會 竪川 [reformed writing: 三川図会] [furigana: さんせん づゑ] The print belongs to the series Images of Sansen (三川圖會, Sansen zue), which depicts scenes along three Edo waterways: Fukagawa (深川), Tatekawa (竪川), and Miyatogawa (宮戸川) (see Kuniyoshi Project):
    "This series of uchiwa (non-folding fan prints) is listed in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961) as number 99". On p. 45 it is listed as: Sansen dzuye (Tategawa). The Three Rivers Illustrated. Women's heads. Fan Prints. (3)

    Fukagawa (深川); 1st month of 1856

    Miyatogawa (宮戸川) ; 2nd month of 1856
    [Thanks to Horst Graebner of Kunisada Project]
    Favorites
    Details
  • NEW

    Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Aisho kagami: Gonpachi / Fan print, 1847-50.

    Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (1797–1861) Signature: Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi ga (一勇斎 國芳 画) in a red double gourd cartouche with kiri seal Publisher: Ibaya Kyūbei [伊場屋久兵衛] (enterprise, op. c. 1804-69); seal: hanmoto, Kyū (板元, 久) Censors: Mera & Murata, 2/1847 – 11/1850; Kōka 4 (弘化四年) – Kaei 3 (嘉永三年) Media: Rigid fan print (Aiban Yoko-e Uchiwa-e, 合判横絵 団扇絵), 237 x 303 mm Series: Aisho kagami [逢性鏡] — translated as Perfect Matches or Mirror of Compatibility or Meeting in a Looking Glass (Kuniyoshi Project) A bijin (beautiful woman) is shown in half-length, turned three-quarter to the left, shielding her forehead with her right hand while her left rests on her knee. She wears an over-robe with vertical stripes in shades of blue and grey, trimmed with a purple collar, and a red under-kimono featuring a saya-gata (紗綾形) lattice and floral design on the collar. Her voluminous shimada hairstyle is tied with a red ribbon and adorned with two long ornamental hairpins (kanzashi). She smiles while reading a letter that lies open in her lap. The background is filled with stylized swirling waves and white koi fish (carp). In the upper left, a circular inset resembling a mirror or medallion shows a kabuki actor (likely Sawamura Sōjūrō V) wearing a white cloth headdress and a purple robe decorated with a 井 (i) crest—representing a 'well frame' (i-zutsu or i-geta) on the shoulders. He is identified as Gonpachi (権八). The mirrored format reflects the series theme: imagined romantic compatibility between Edo beauties and kabuki actors. A red cartouche on the right reads: 逢性鏡 (Aishō kagami) – Mirror of Compatibility. Provenance: Nelkin Collection Reference: [LIB-3428.2025] Christie’s, New York: Japanese Prints, Paintings, and Screens, Monday, 24 November 1997 / Sales Catalogue; p. 64, lot. 135.
    ...Aishō kagami “Mirror of compatibility”, a beauty against a stylized wave-and-fish-patterned background reading a letter, below a round mirror cartouche enclosing a bust portrait of Shirai Gonpachi, signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga and published by Ibaya Kyūbei...
     
    Favorites
    Details
© Copyright  ,  Varshavsky Collection