Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)

1786-1865

Nakamura Utaemon IV as Yadoneya Tarobei; Onoe Eizaburo III as Sakuraya no Oyae; and Ichikawa Kuzo II as Isami Miyoshi no Kidai

each sheet signed Gototei Kunisada ga, with censor's Kiwame seal and publisher's seal Toriaburacho, Tsuruki-han (Tsuruya Kiemon of Senkakudo), ca. 1839

oban tate-e triptych 14 7/8 by 30 in., 37.7 by 76.1 cm

From right to left, the actor Nakamura Utaemon IV (1796-1852) in the role of Yadoneya Tarobei, pauses to turn back towards the onnagata Onoe Eizaburo III (Kikugoro, 1808-1860), who likewise looks over his shoulder at Ichikawa Kuzo II (Danzo VI, 1800-1871). The actors are bundled up and carry umbrellas on a snowy evening in a scene from the play Sekai wa Yoshida sato no inazuma, staged at the Nakamura Theater in the 9th lunar month of 1839.

References:
Shindo Shigeru, Kunisada: Yakushae no sekai (Kunisada: The Actor Portraits), 1993, no. 97
Waseda University Theatre Museum, reference. no. 100-9871

(inv. no. 10-5378)

price: $2,000