Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861)
A rare shikake-e (trick picture):
Depicting a dramatic jôruri dance scene with tokiwazu musical accompaniment from the final part of the famous Kabuki drama "Kaidan Sumidagawa" (Ghost Story on the Sumida River), performed on the 24th day of the 6th month in 1848 at the Ichimura theatre in Edo.
The scene is set on the Mimeguri bank of the Sumidagawa river. On the right Bandô Shuka I as the ferrywoman Ôshizu; to her left, kneeling, Sawamura Gennosuke III as Yoshida Matsuwakamaru (alias Yôsuke) with a companion. On the far left sits Fujikawa Kaju III as (the real) Okumi, daughter of the pawnbroker Eirakuya and Yôsuke’s lover; next to her rises the ghost of the dead princess Nowake (played by Ichikawa Kodanji IV), deceptively resembling Okumi. The ghost of the evil priest Hôkaibô, appearing simultaneously and rising from a water fountain, only becomes visible when the movable part (shikake) of the picture is folded up.
Title: 鉤荵萌芽拙- Tsurishinobu mebae no futsutsuka (title of this scene)
Signature: Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi ga, with Kiri mon
Publisher: Ningyôya Takichi, Edo
Censor seals: Mera, Murata
Date: 1848, 6th month
Size: Ôban diptych, with attached fold-out (shikake-e, also called komochi-e or kawari-e), overall c. 37 x 49,5 cm
Fine impression in perfectly fresh colours, with visible wood grain. A little pigment oxydation in the musicians' desks. Unbacked, separate sheets. Partly a little bit trimmed. Some smaller wormholes at the two inner margins professionally restored. Slightly finger-stained in bottom. Overall very good and completely preserved, with the wonderful fold-out, which is almost always missing. Of greatest rarity, especially in this lovely condition.
Cf. Kuniyoshi Project (Actor triptychs 1848, Part V, with and without fold-out); Waseda 101-7442 and 101-7442 (without fold-out); Library of Congress No. 2008660459 (without fold-out).
The performance of this day consisted of three parts titled "Tsuma Mukae Iro no fumizuki", "Kaidan Sumidagawa" and "Tsurishinobu mebae no futsutsuka" The illustrated programme (tsuji banzuke) for this jôruri part can be found in the collection of the MFA Boston, 11.27968, for the whole programme cf. ARC Ritsumeikan, Nakai Family Coll., nakai2220.
sold