Artist: Katsukawa Shunkō [勝川 春好] (Japanese, 1743 – 1812).

Actor: Matsumoto Kōshirō IV [[松本幸四郎]; other names: Omegawa Kyōjūrō, Ichikawa Komazō II, Ichikawa Somegorô I, Ichikawa Takejūrō, Segawa Kinji, Segawa Kingo] (Japanese, 1737 – 1802).

Signed: Shunkō ga. Size: Hosoban; 14 x 33 cm. SOLD

Artist (character): Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Artist (landscape): Utagawa Kunihisa II [歌川国久] (Japanese, 1832 – 1981), a.k.a. Katsuda Hisatarō, Ichiunsai, Ritchōrō, Toyonobu, Yōryūsai, Yōsai. Block carver: Matsushima Masakichi (Japanese, fl. c. 1847-65); seal: [松嶋彫政] – Matsushima Hori Masa (Frieze, 2009: 142) Publisher: Iseya Magobei [伊勢屋孫兵衛] (Japanese, fl. c. 1794 – 1868). Signed: By the brush of Toyokuni at the age of 78 [七十八歳豊国筆] (Nanajūhachi-sai Toyokuni hitsu) – in a red toshidama cartouche (left). Signed: Landscape by Kunihisa [景色 国久画] (Keshiki Kunihisa ga) (right). Actor: Nakamura Shikan IV [中村芝翫] (Japanese, 1831 –  1899); other names: Nakamura Fukusuke I, Nakamura Masanosuke I, Nakamura Komasaburō, Nakamura Tamatarō I. Combined date seal and kiwame censor seal: [亥極] – Bunkyū 3 (1863) Tasogare (literally, twilight] [たそがれ] is a character in the novel Rustic Genji and a role in various kabuki plays. Fake Murasaki’s Rustic Genji [偐紫田舎源氏] (Nise Murasaki inaka Genji) is a literary parody written by  Ryutei Tanehiko [柳亭種彦] (Japanese, 1783 – 1842). According to Horst Graebner, this must be a mitate print because there was no known performance of this play in 1863.

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). Actor Morita Kan'ya XI as Saito Tarozaemon Toshiyuki (Morito Kan'ya, Saito Tarozaemon Toshiyuki) Signed Toyokuni ga within the artist's Toshidama cartouche, publisher's seal Sho, Kinshodo, carver's seal Horiko Ryusan, censor's seal aratame with date 1860, 3rd month. Date: 3/1860. Oban tate-e; 36.5 x 25.3 cm. The actor Morita Kan'ya XI (1802-1863) is in the role of Saito Tarozaemon Toshiyuki from the play Oto no Miya Asahi no Yoroi (Oto no Miyo and the Armor of the Rising Sun). The play picks up following the Genko War of 1331-33 in which Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339) led a failed uprising against the ruling Hojo clan. Tarozaemon was a Hojo warlord and is credited with much of the victory. After the conflict, his lord Norisada receives a summer festival lantern from the courtesan Sanmi-no-Tsubone, which bears a riddling inscription. He and Tarozaemon deliberate over the courtesan and her message for quite some time until they realize that she is attempting to manipulate Norisada in the hopes of returning the Emperor from exile. Following this revelation, Norisada reinterprets the message to mean kiriko, literally "to cut a child," and determines that Sanmi-no-Tsubone's son must be killed. He instructs Tarozaemon to do the deed. However, unbeknownst to Norisada and in spite of his allegiance to the Hojo clan, Tarozaemon is sympathetic to Sanmi-no-Tsubone and her son. At one time, his own daughter had served in the Imperial Palace and was spared execution only through Sanmi-no-Tsubone's intervention. As repayment of that debt, he kills his own grandson in the other boy's stead and returns to Norisada to report that he had accomplished the mission. 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 from the past and present in their famous roles. Kunisada was guided by images from his own oeuvre: he recorded Kan'ya in this role in the 8th month of 1829. As this was meant to be Kunisada's grandest actor series, it was executed on thick paper with the best possible pigments and the highest level of craftsmanship. In this unusual frontal portrait, Kunisada presents Morita Kan'ya XI as the loyal Tarozaemon with his eyes rolling upward and his jaw set in grim determination to commit the unthinkable act in an ultimate display of samurai honour. Text by Scholten Japanese Art, New York. Ref.: Waseda University Theatre Museum (enpaku.waseda.ac.jp), accession no. 100-5261 (for 1829 portrait of the same); [LIB-1212.2017] Robert Schaap. Kunisada: Imaging, drama and beauty. — Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2016, p. 165 (№ 16). Andreas Marks. Publishers of Japanese woodblock prints: A compendium. Ebisuya Shoshichi (1846-83) - P6032.

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 yellow toshidama cartouche. Publisher: Unknown, seal [久] Kyū (Japanese, fl. c. 1851 – 1861); (Marks 07-023 | U176a, possibly Sagamia Kyūzō). Block carver: Koizumi Minokichi [小泉巳の吉] (Japanese, 1833 – 1906); seal: Hori Mino [彫已の] (Gordon Friese № 38). Date seal and double nanushi censor seals: Fuku & Muramatsu, Kaei 6, 2^nd month (2/1853). Inscription in a red cartouche: (Purple of Edo // Purple of the Bay Capital) [江都むらさき] (Edo Murasaki), alluding to Murasaki Shikibu [紫 式部] (Japanese, c. 973/8 – c. 1014/31), the author of Genji Monogatari [源氏物語] (The Tale of Genji), a Heian period novel which was the source of a parody Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji [偐紫田舎源氏] (Fake Murasaki’s Rustic Genji) by Ryutei Tanehiko [柳亭種彦] (Japanese, 1783 – 1842). According to Horst Graebner: The actor is most probably Segawa Kikunojō V. Segawa Kikunojō V [瀬川菊之丞] (Japanese, 1802 – 1832); other names: Segawa Tamon I. One of the series of Kunisada's fan prints in this collection:

SVJP-0293.2019

SVJP-0294.2019

SVJP-0295.2019

SVJP-0231.2018

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 yellow toshidama cartouche. Publisher: Unknown, seal [久] Kyū (Japanese, fl. c. 1851 – 1861); (Marks 07-023 | U176a, possibly Sagamia Kyūzō). Date seal and double nanushi censor seals: Fuku & Muramatsu, Kaei 6, 2^nd month (2/1853). Inscription in a red cartouche: (Purple of Edo // Purple of the Bay Capital) [江都むらさき] (Edo Murasaki), alluding to Murasaki Shikibu [紫 式部] (Japanese, c. 973/8 – c. 1014/31), the author of Genji Monogatari [源氏物語] (The Tale of Genji), a Heian period novel which was the source of a parody Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji [偐紫田舎源氏] (Fake Murasaki’s Rustic Genji) by Ryutei Tanehiko [柳亭種彦] (Japanese, 1783 – 1842). According to Horst Graebner: The actor is Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII. Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII [市川団十郎] (Japanese, 1823 – 1854); other names: Ichikawa Ebizō VI, Ichikawa Shinnosuke II. One of the series of Kunisada’s fan prints in this collection:

SVJP-0293.2019

SVJP-0294.2019

SVJP-0295.2019

SVJP-0231.2018

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):

SVJP-0298.2019: Ichikawa Ebizō V as Sano Jirōzaemon.

SVJP-0297.2019: Iwai Kumesaburō III as Manjiya Yatsuhashi

Another Kunisada's print with the same characters in the same play and same performance can be seen at MFA (Boston) № 11.40190. One more example can be seen at the two upper images in Waseda University Cultural Resources Database, № 006-2707: