A Triptych of Fashionable No Plays (Furyu Utai Sanbukutsui)

COLLECTION NAME:

The AMICA Library

mediaCollectionId

AMICO~1~1

The AMICA Library

Collection

true

AMICA ID:

AIC_.1925.2357

amicoid

AIC_.1925.2357

AMICA ID

false

AMICA Library Year:

1999

aly

1999

AMICA Library Year

false

Object Type:

Prints

oty

Prints

Object Type

false

Creator Name:

Miyagawa, Shunsui

crn

Miyagawa, Shunsui

Creator Name

false

Creator Nationality:

Asian; Far East Asian; Japanese

crc

Asian; Far East Asian; Japanese

Creator Nationality

false

Creator Dates/Places:

Japanese; fl. 1744-1764 Asia,East Asia,Japan

cdt

Japanese; fl. 1744-1764 Asia,East Asia,Japan

Creator Dates/Places

false

Creator Name-CRT:

Miyagawa Shunsui

crt

Miyagawa Shunsui

Creator Name-CRT

false

Title:

A Triptych of Fashionable No Plays (Furyu Utai Sanbukutsui)

otn

A Triptych of Fashionable No Plays (Furyu Utai Sanbukutsui)

Title

false

Title Type:

preferred

ott

preferred

Title Type

false

View:

full view

rid

full view

View

false

Creation Date:

Edo period, Ca. late 1750s

oct

Edo period, Ca. late 1750s

Creation Date

false

Creation Start Date:

1755

ocs

1755

Creation Start Date

false

Creation End Date:

1760

oce

1760

Creation End Date

false

Materials and Techniques:

Woodblock print. Triptych (uncut)The three scenes of this triptych form separate compositions, each bearing a signature and publisher's seal. This suggests that they were intended to be cut apart and viewed separately, though perhaps placed side by side.

omd

Woodblock print. Triptych (uncut)The three scenes of this triptych form separate compositions, each bearing a signature and publisher's seal. This suggests that they were intended to be cut apart and viewed separately, though perhaps placed side by side.

Materials and Techniques

false

Classification Term:

Woodblock

clt

Woodblock

Classification Term

false

Subject Description:

Each shows a courtesan and a modishly dressed young man (wakashu) in a scene of dalliance based on an episode from a well-known No play. 'Parody pictures' (mitate-e) of this kind, in which fashionably dressed figures from the contemporary demimonde enacted trivialized versions of scenes from classical literature, were common in ukiyo-e since its origins at the end of the seventeenth century.On the right a young couple toy with a miniature kite in the shape of a kimono. The woman holds the spool of kite thread, an allusion to the No play Miwa (Origin of Miwa Shrine), in which a woman attaches a thread to the hem of her mysterious lover, follows the thread, and discovers that he is the deity of the Miwa Shrine. The short poem above reads:Aibore noito kuri-kaeshiada-kuzetsuLovers quarrel-But continually reelThe threads of affection that bind them.The scene in the center mimics the encounter in Eguchi, in which the courtesan Eguchi no Kimi refuses a night's lodging to the wandering monk-poet Saigyo so as notto compromise his holy virtue. In the up-to-date print version we see a young man wearing a striped obi tied (like a courtesan's) in an extravagant bow in front and carrying a bucket of chrysanthemums. As he passes the brothel entrance, a courtesan emerges and looks after him admiringly. The poem over her head expresses her thoughts:Shin tomunato wa omoedomowakashuDon't lose your heart,I think to myself-But oh, that young man!. . .The play Izutsu (The Well-Curb), based on episode 23 from Ise Monogatari (Tales of Ise), tells of a couple who as children played together by the well-curb, looking at their reflections in the water. Growing up, they fell in love. Once married, the husband grew mistrustful, but was won back by his wife's devotion and womanly charm. Shunsui translates this into a scene of a young woman combing the hair of her lover, who sits looking into a makeup mirror. Through the open shoji can be seen graceful willow fronds hanging above the well-curb:Kurabegoshiyanagi wa ika nakushi-zukaiHow graceful her form!Just like a willowAs she plies the comb.(The Actor's Image, 1994)

sup

Each shows a courtesan and a modishly dressed young man (wakashu) in a scene of dalliance based on an episode from a well-known No play. 'Parody pictures' (mitate-e) of this kind, in which fashionably dressed figures from the contemporary demimonde enacted trivialized versions of scenes from classical literature, were common in ukiyo-e since its origins at the end of the seventeenth century.On the right a young couple toy with a miniature kite in the shape of a kimono. The woman holds the spool of kite thread, an allusion to the No play Miwa (Origin of Miwa Shrine), in which a woman attaches a thread to the hem of her mysterious lover, follows the thread, and discovers that he is the deity of the Miwa Shrine. The short poem above reads:Aibore noito kuri-kaeshiada-kuzetsuLovers quarrel-But continually reelThe threads of affection that bind them.The scene in the center mimics the encounter in Eguchi, in which the courtesan Eguchi no Kimi refuses a night's lodging to the wandering monk-poet Saigyo so as notto compromise his holy virtue. In the up-to-date print version we see a young man wearing a striped obi tied (like a courtesan's) in an extravagant bow in front and carrying a bucket of chrysanthemums. As he passes the brothel entrance, a courtesan emerges and looks after him admiringly. The poem over her head expresses her thoughts:Shin tomunato wa omoedomowakashuDon't lose your heart,I think to myself-But oh, that young man!. . .The play Izutsu (The Well-Curb), based on episode 23 from Ise Monogatari (Tales of Ise), tells of a couple who as children played together by the well-curb, looking at their reflections in the water. Growing up, they fell in love. Once married, the husband grew mistrustful, but was won back by his wife's devotion and womanly charm. Shunsui translates this into a scene of a young woman combing the hair of her lover, who sits looking into a makeup mirror. Through the open shoji can be seen graceful willow fronds hanging above the well-curb:Kurabegoshiyanagi wa ika nakushi-zukaiHow graceful her form!Just like a willowAs she plies the comb.(The Actor's Image, 1994)

Subject Description

false

Creation Place:

Asia,East Asia,Japan

ocp

Asia,East Asia,Japan

Creation Place

false

Dimensions:

Benizuri hosoban; 31.1 x 47.3 cm

met

Benizuri hosoban; 31.1 x 47.3 cm

Dimensions

false

AMICA Contributor:

The Art Institute of Chicago

oon

The Art Institute of Chicago

AMICA Contributor

false

Owner Location:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

oop

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Owner Location

false

ID Number:

1925.2357

ooa

1925.2357

ID Number

false

Credit Line:

The Art Institute of Chicago, The Clarence Buckingham Collection

ooc

The Art Institute of Chicago, The Clarence Buckingham Collection

Credit Line

false

Inscriptions:

SIGNATURE Tobu eshi ("Artist of Edo") Katsu ShunsuiARTIST'S SEAL Mangyo

oin

SIGNATURE Tobu eshi ("Artist of Edo") Katsu ShunsuiARTIST'S SEAL Mangyo

Inscriptions

false

Rights:

http://www.artic.edu/aic/rights/main.rights.html

orl

<a href="http://www.artic.edu/aic/rights/main.rights.html"target="_new">http://www.artic.edu/aic/rights/main.rights.html</a>

Rights

false

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A Triptych of Fashionable No Plays (Furyu Utai Sanbukutsui)