COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
mediaCollectionId
AMICO~1~1
The AMICA Library
Collection
true
AMICA ID:
AIC_.1939.2206
amicoid
AIC_.1939.2206
AMICA ID
false
AMICA Library Year:
1998
aly
1998
AMICA Library Year
false
Object Type:
Prints
oty
Prints
Object Type
false
Creator Name:
Katsukawa, Shun'ei
crn
Katsukawa, Shun'ei
Creator Name
false
Creator Nationality:
Asian; Far East Asian; Japanese
crc
Asian; Far East Asian; Japanese
Creator Nationality
false
Creator Dates/Places:
Japanese; 1762-1819 Asia,East Asia,Japan
cdt
Japanese; 1762-1819 Asia,East Asia,Japan
Creator Dates/Places
false
Creator Name-CRT:
Katsukawa Shun'ei
crt
Katsukawa Shun'ei
Creator Name-CRT
false
Title:
'Large head' portrait (okubi-e) of the actor Iwai Hanshiro IV as Akita Jonosuke Yoshikage in a 'Shibaraku' role, from the play Mieiko Nori no Hachi no Ki (Memorial Service for St. Nichiren: A Model of 'The Potted Trees')
otn
'Large head' portrait (okubi-e) of the actor Iwai Hanshiro IV as Akita Jonosuke Yoshikage in a 'Shibaraku' role, from the play Mieiko Nori no Hachi no Ki (Memorial Service for St. Nichiren: A Model of 'The Potted Trees')
Title
false
Title Type:
preferred
ott
preferred
Title Type
false
View:
full view
rid
full view
View
false
Creation Date:
Performed at the Kawarazaki Theater in the eleventh month, 1791
oct
Performed at the Kawarazaki Theater in the eleventh month, 1791
Creation Date
false
Creation Start Date:
1791
ocs
1791
Creation Start Date
false
Creation End Date:
1791
oce
1791
Creation End Date
false
Materials and Techniques:
Woodblock print.
omd
Woodblock print.
Materials and Techniques
false
Classification Term:
Woodblock
clt
Woodblock
Classification Term
false
Creation Place:
Asia,East Asia,Japan
ocp
Asia,East Asia,Japan
Creation Place
false
Dimensions:
Aiban; 32.3 x 22.5 cm
met
Aiban; 32.3 x 22.5 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:
1939.2206
ooa
1939.2206
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:
UNSIGNED ["Shunko ga" added by hand]CENSOR'S SEAL: Kiwame
oin
UNSIGNED ["Shunko ga" added by hand]CENSOR'S SEAL: Kiwame
Inscriptions
false
Rights:
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
Context:
Iwai Hanshiro IV shared honors with Segawa Kikunojo III as the leading female impersonator (onnagata) of the late eighteenth century, but here we see him in a rare venture into male 'rough stuff' (aragoto) acting - as a warrior in the famous 'Shibaraku' (Stop right there!) scene. His round, chubby face (which earned him the nickname Otafuku, after the legendary fat woman) is unexpectedly powerful in this most masculine of roles. He is wearing the characteristic 'Shibaraku' costume: red-streaked sujiguma makeup, radiating 'cartwheel' wig, black lacquer court headdress (eboshi), pleated white paper 'strength' hair ornaments, and a voluminous persimmon red ceremonial jacket (suo) over armor. Hanshiro IV's crest of three fans arranged inside a circle appearson the breastplate.Kabuki Nempyo records that Hanshiro IV made the normal entry down the walkway through the audience (hanamichi), wearing the 'Shibaraku' costume decorated with the large square crests of the Ichikawa family. Just as he was about to accost evil Prince Munetaka on the main stage, his fellow actor Osagawa Tsuneyo II climbed up from the front row of the audience and interrupted, calling out, 'Aren't you my younger sister Onaka?' Piece by piece the 'Shibaraku' costume was removed and the makeup was washed off, to reveal a precocious young girl wearing a long hanging-sleeved kimono (furisode) beneath! This unexpected development in the hackneyed 'Shibaraku' scene was well received, and is the subject of an illustration by Shuntei in Kabuki Nendaiki (see The Actor's Image' catalogue, fig. 128.1, p.342).The signature 'Shunko ga' has been added by hand to the top left-hand corner of the print, and in the past this attribution has been credited by Japanese authorities. Shunko did indeed produce aseries of revolutionary 'large head' portraits (okubi-e) of actors against blue backgrounds during the one-year period between the eleventh month of 1788 and the eleventh month of 1789. Seventeen such designs have been provisionally identified by Roger Keyes, all in the oban format and all of unprecedented power. Keyes also observes, however, that the last datable print designed by Shunko, before he fell victim to a paralysis that affected his right hand, was issued to mark a performance in the third month of 1790.The present print is superficially similar to these 'large head' portraits by Shunko, but it is in the smaller aiban format and dates almost a year and a half after Shunko is thought to have retired. The style is in fact closer to a hosoban print of Hanshiro IV in the same 'Shibaraku' role signed Shun'ei (see 'The Actor's Image' catalogue, fig. 128.2, p.343), and it is likely that Shun'ei was also the artist of the present, unsigned, print. The thick black drapery lines around Hanshiro IV's face have little of the taut, sweeping power seen in Shunko's best portraits.
cxd
Iwai Hanshiro IV shared honors with Segawa Kikunojo III as the leading female impersonator (onnagata) of the late eighteenth century, but here we see him in a rare venture into male 'rough stuff' (aragoto) acting - as a warrior in the famous 'Shibaraku' (Stop right there!) scene. His round, chubby face (which earned him the nickname Otafuku, after the legendary fat woman) is unexpectedly powerful in this most masculine of roles. He is wearing the characteristic 'Shibaraku' costume: red-streaked sujiguma makeup, radiating 'cartwheel' wig, black lacquer court headdress (eboshi), pleated white paper 'strength' hair ornaments, and a voluminous persimmon red ceremonial jacket (suo) over armor. Hanshiro IV's crest of three fans arranged inside a circle appearson the breastplate.Kabuki Nempyo records that Hanshiro IV made the normal entry down the walkway through the audience (hanamichi), wearing the 'Shibaraku' costume decorated with the large square crests of the Ichikawa family. Just as he was about to accost evil Prince Munetaka on the main stage, his fellow actor Osagawa Tsuneyo II climbed up from the front row of the audience and interrupted, calling out, 'Aren't you my younger sister Onaka?' Piece by piece the 'Shibaraku' costume was removed and the makeup was washed off, to reveal a precocious young girl wearing a long hanging-sleeved kimono (furisode) beneath! This unexpected development in the hackneyed 'Shibaraku' scene was well received, and is the subject of an illustration by Shuntei in Kabuki Nendaiki (see The Actor's Image' catalogue, fig. 128.1, p.342).The signature 'Shunko ga' has been added by hand to the top left-hand corner of the print, and in the past this attribution has been credited by Japanese authorities. Shunko did indeed produce aseries of revolutionary 'large head' portraits (okubi-e) of actors against blue backgrounds during the one-year period between the eleventh month of 1788 and the eleventh month of 1789. Seventeen such designs have been provisionally identified by Roger Keyes, all in the oban format and all of unprecedented power. Keyes also observes, however, that the last datable print designed by Shunko, before he fell victim to a paralysis that affected his right hand, was issued to mark a performance in the third month of 1790.The present print is superficially similar to these 'large head' portraits by Shunko, but it is in the smaller aiban format and dates almost a year and a half after Shunko is thought to have retired. The style is in fact closer to a hosoban print of Hanshiro IV in the same 'Shibaraku' role signed Shun'ei (see 'The Actor's Image' catalogue, fig. 128.2, p.343), and it is likely that Shun'ei was also the artist of the present, unsigned, print. The thick black drapery lines around Hanshiro IV's face have little of the taut, sweeping power seen in Shunko's best portraits.
Context
false
Related Image Identifier Link:
AIC_.E19845.TIF
ril
AIC_.E19845.TIF
Related Image Identifier Link
false