Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)

1786-1865

A Pictorial Commentary on One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets: no. 37, Mibu no Tadamine
(Hyakunin isshu esho: Mibu no Tadamine)

signed Kunisada aratame Nidaime Toyokuni ga (Kunisada changing his name to Toyokuni II) with his Toshidama seal, censor's seal Mura (Murata Sahei), followed by the publisher's seal Sanoki (Sanoya Kihei of Kikakudo), ca. 1844

oban tate-e 14 1/4 by 10 in., 36.2 by 25.4 cm

A beauty seated before a raised platform holds her kokyu upright with her bow resting on the strings. Although all of the designs in this series of 100 hundred prints were issued as individual sheets (with relevant signature and seals), there are several instances where consecutive designs relate to one another, but only occaisonally with elements that connect the compositions. This print can form the left hand sheet of a triptych comprised of design number 35 on the right featuring a poem by Kiyowara no Fukayabu and a beauty playing a koto; and design number 36 as the center sheet with a poem by Funiya no Asayasu and a beauty playng a shakuhachi. When viewed together, the three women form an ensemble in concert.

A poem by Mibu no Tadamine is presented as the front and back of the poem card (Hyakunin isshu no. 30):

upper card (front):
Ariake no
tsurenaku mieshi
wakare yori

lower card (back):
aka-tsuki bakari
uki mono ha nashi

There is nothing as depressing
as the break of day and
leaving you after
having seen the heartless
morning moon

Reference:
Joshua S. Mostow, The Hundred Poets Compared, 2007, p. 94, no. 30 (poem translation)
(inv. no. 10-5237)

price: $650