MEDIA INFORMATION

 
 
 
COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
AIC_.1925.2470
AMICA Library Year:
1998
Object Type:
Prints
Creator Name:
Katsukawa, Shunko
Creator Nationality:
Asian; Far East Asian; Japanese
Creator Dates/Places:
Japanese; 1743-1812 Asia,East Asia,Japan
Creator Name-CRT:
Katsukawa Shunko
Title:
The actor Ichikawa Danjuro V, probably as Ise no Saburo disguised as Sanjo Uemon, leader of a robber gang, in part two of the play Fude-hajime Kanjincho (First Calligraphy of the New Year: Kanjincho [The Subscription List])
Title Type:
preferred
View:
full view
Creation Date:
Performed at the Nakamura Theater from the fifteenth day of the first month, 1784
Creation Start Date:
1784
Creation End Date:
1784
Materials and Techniques:
Woodblock print.
Classification Term:
Woodblock
Creation Place:
Asia,East Asia,Japan
Dimensions:
Hosoban, possibly right sheet of a triptych; 29.0 x 13.2 cm
AMICA Contributor:
The Art Institute of Chicago
Owner Location:
Chicago, Illinois, USA
ID Number:
1925.2470
Credit Line:
The Art Institute of Chicago, The Clarence Buckingham Collection
Inscriptions:
SIGNATURE:Shunko ga
Rights:
http://www.artic.edu/aic/rights/main.rights.html
Context:
Because the Nakamura Theater had burned to the ground in the tenth month of the previous year, the production in the reconstructed theater in the first month of 1784 was treated as the opening of the season (kaoise), and the New Year plays were postponeduntil the following month. The play Fudehajime Kanjincho seems to have been a complex melange of characters and scenes from various historical plays, including the Ataka Barrier scene (Kanjincho), a parody of Narihira's Journey to the East (Azuma Kudari), and the tale of the rival warriors Nasu no Yoichi and Ise no Saburo at the Battle of Yashima in 1185.Danjuro V probably appears here as Ise no Saburo disguised as Sanjo Uemon, leader of a robber gang. Typically for Shunko's hosoban designs of the 1780s,the figure is close to the picture plane and bulky, filling the page. Over a suit of armor Ise no Saburo wears the black kimono and hood of a thief or 'shadow warrior' (ninja) - a character who wants to escape undetected into the night. Under one arm is a richly decorated chest, presumably containing treasure, and with the other hand he grips his unsheathed sword, holding the blade straight up. The identical costume and pose, with the sword pointing directly upward, appear in the illustrated program (ehon banzuke) (see 'The Actor's Image', fig. 115.1, p.314).Kabuki Nendaiki relates that part two opened with a scene at the Mieido Fan Shop featuring three leading actors of female roles (onnagata): Iwai Hanshiro IV as Otsugi, in reality Ise no Saburo's sister Hamaogi; Nakamura Riko I as the fan maker Okaji, in reality the court lady Tamamushi; and Segawa Kikunojo III as the fan maker Otatsu, in reality Hanazono, daughter of the warrior Kamada Shoji. The illustration in the program (fig. 115.1) shows DanjuroV with Hanshiro IV and and Riko I, suggesting that Shunko's hosoban print may have come from a multisheet composition showing Danjuro V with one or more of these female characters.
Related Image Identifier Link:
AIC_.E19803.TIF

The actor Ichikawa Danjuro V, probably as Ise no Saburo disguised as Sanjo Uemon, leader o...

     
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The actor Ichikawa Danjuro V, probably as Ise no Saburo disguised as Sanjo Uemon, leader of a robber gang, in part two of the play Fude-hajime Kanjincho (First Calligraphy of the New Year: Kanjincho [The Subscription List])