Toyohara Kunichika, 1835-1900
Mirror Sketches from the Backstage Dressing Room: [Kawarazaki] Mimasu
(Shasei gakuya kagami: Mimasu)
signed Kunichika hitsu with red Toshidama seal, publisher's seal (partially trimmed) Tsunoi (Tsunokuniya Isaburo), ca. 1868-69
oban tate-e 14 1/8 by 9 1/2 in., 36 by 24 cm
An amusing portrait of the reflection of Kawarazaki Mimasu (Ichikawa Danjuro IX, 1838-1903) in a glass mirror waiting for an assistant (unseen but for his hands) to lower a wig onto his head. The poem in the square-shaped cartouche is signed Mimasu (or Sansho), which is the name of the mon for the Ichikawa family and was also used as a haimyo (poetry name) by actors in the Danjuro line. Danjuro IX was a star in the Meiji Period and largely credited, along with his contemporaries, Onoe Kikugoro V (Onoe Baiko V, 1844-1903) and Ichikawa Sadanji I (1842-1904), with adapting and revitalizing kabuki for the modern era.
References:
Amy Reigle Newland, Time Present and Time Past: Images of a Forgotten Master: Toyohara Kunichika, 1999, p. 91, cat. no. 61 (for another print from this scarce series)
Waseda University Theatre Museum, acquisition no. 007-1315
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