Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (1786-1865)
A troupe of Kabuki actors preparing for a private Zashiki Kyôgen performance in a wealthy home. In the background a large transport box for costumes and stage props.
The scenes from right to left:
1) Bandô Mitsugorô III sitting at the make-up mirror and stretching out his cup to a woman of the household for a refill; standing behind him in a determined posture, the young Bandô Minosuke II.
2.) Sitting with a text scroll in his hands, the onnagata Sawamura Tanosuke II, famed for his beauty and grace. The onnagata Iwai Hanshirô V costumed as a high-ranking courtesan (oiran) stands next to him, her kimono with a pattern of flying chidori (plovers). Sitting behind them and filling his pipe from a tobacco pouch, Suketakaya Kingôrô.
3.) Putting on his wig at the make-up mirror, actor Matsumoto Kôshirô V, wearing the voluminous costume of a dramatic aragoto role. Behind him, on the left onnagata Iwai Matsunosuke, entertaining the fidgeting child actor Ichikawa Komazô IV, who is held by Onnagata Matsumoto Yonezaburô II. On the right, the onnagata Segawa Kikunô V.
Title: 御座敷狂言こしらゑの図 - 五番続 (Ozashiki Kyôgen Koshirae no zu - Go-ban tsuzuki) - Preparation for a private Kyôgen performance - a sequence of five pictures
Signature: Gototei Kunisada ga
Seal: Mimasu seal (only partially visible, on the left sheet)
Publisher: Kawaguchiya Uhei, Edo
Censor: Kiwame
Date: c. 1815/16
Size: 3 vertical Ôban, each c. 36.5 x 24.9 cm
Excellent impression, very good colours. Separate sheets, unbacked, partly a little bit trimmed. Slight creases and weak horizontal folds smoothed. Minor soiling and finger stains. Overall very good condition. Verso on each print collector’s seal of Otto Hundt (slightly visible from front in right and middle sheet).
Three excellent early prints by Kunisada (from a group of originally five) with an extremely rare and depiction of a private Kabuki performance, possibly in a daimyô‘s residence, as suggested by Shindô Shigeru.
Ill. in: Shindô Shigeru, Kunisada: The kabuki actor portraits, Tokyo 1993, pp. 47-49 and 136, Waseda University Theatre Museum, Nos. 120-0186-1190; Nihon Geijutsu Bunka Shinkokai, No. NA071180
sold