Toyohara Kunichika

1835-1900

Actors Back Stage: Ichikawa Danjuro IX Being Cooled by an Unseen Attendant Fanning Him
(Haiyu gakuya no omokage: Ichikawa Danjuro)

signed Toyohara Kunichika hitsu, the carver's seal Hori kosan, the title at the top right, Haiyu gakuya no omokage: Ichikawa Danjuro, dated with the publisher's information in the left margin, Meiji nijuichinen gogatsu hatsuka insatsu (Meiji 21 [1888], May 20th), donen gogatsu nijugonichi shuppan (published in the same year, May 25th), published by Sasaki Toyokichi with his address in Kyobachi, 1888

oban tate-e 14 5/8 by 9 7/8 in., 37.1 by 25.2 cm

The actor Ichikawa Danjuro IX (1838-1903) is one of the most important kabuki actors of the Meiji Period (1868-1912) who is credited, in part, with revitalizing and redefining the theater for the modern era. The wooden panel with a small shelf at the upper left is inscribed with his name Danjuro, and the paper fan jutting in from the left is decorated with his mimasu-mon 'three rice measure' actor's crest.

(inv. no. 10-5002)

price: $775