Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)

1786-1865

Actors Ichikawa Shinsha I as Gorobee musume [maiden] Oriu, Nakamura Fukusuke I as Kiyari no Kenzo, Bando Tamasaburo II as Mondo musume [maiden] Osode, and Ichikawa Ichizo III as Kamiyuhi Jinzo

signed Toyokuni ga within the artist's Toshidama cartouche, with combined censor and date seal Hitsuji-san, aratame (year of the goat [1859], 3rd lunar month, examined), carver's seal Horiko Masa (Matsushima Masakichi), and publisher's seal Tomi, Kinseido, Sanotomi of Sanoya Tomigoro of Kinseido

oban tate-e triptych 14 by 29 1/4 in., 35.56 by 74.3 cm

In the right sheet, the actor Ichikawa Shinsha I (1821-1878) is in the role of Gorobee musume (maiden) Oriu and the actor Nakamura Fukusuke I (Nakamura Shikan IV, 1831-1899) is in the role of Kiyari no Kenzo, in the center, an unread character is standing beside a signpost, and in the left sheet, the actor Bando Tamasaburo II (Bando Minosuke IV, 1831-1872) is in the role of Mondo musume (maiden) Osode and the actor Ichikawa Ichizo III (1833-1865) is in the role of Kamiyuhi Jinzo from the play Tanomimasu Soga no kamigaki, staged at the Morita Theater in Edo in the 2nd lunar month of 1859. In the 7th lunar month of 1859, the same actors would reprise their roles in the subsequent play Somekaete Ukiyo no Edozuma, staged at the Nakamura Theater.

Reference:
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from the Bigelow Collection, accession no. 11.28126 (re: playbill)

price: $750