Ukiyo-e Prints
浮世絵版画

Port Townsend, Washington

TOYOHARA KUNICHIKA

豊原国周

とよはらくにちか

(1835-1900)

Title: Ten-chi-jin Susume Fuji-dama

Ca. 1874

(The original printing may have been in 1862, 11th month.)

Right Panel: Onoe Kikugorō V (尾上菊五郎 or おのえきくごろう) as

二ツ扇菊

Publisher: Iseya Rihei

Signatures: Kunichika hitsu (left panel)

Toyoharu Kunichika hitsu (center panel)

Oju Kunichika hitsu (right panel)

 There are other copies of this triptych at Ritsumeikan University,

at the Hankyu Culture Foundation and at Waseda University.

Sold!

Carver's Seal:

Horikō Gin

尾上菊五郎

Some Things Get Lost

In a Riot of Color and Objects

It is so easy to overlook or miss the subtle details in Japanese woodblock prints. This is made even easier when they are as busy as the Kunichika triptych featured on this page.  Then there is the problem of obscure cultural references which only the greatest scholars might catch. However, anyone in love this with this field of collecting knows that the more you look the more you see. That may be particularly true here. For example, did you notice the people crossing the bridge in the lower center of the right-hand panel? Not only that, but as stylized as they are they are crossing it in the rain.  Kunichika displays his great skill and wit by incorporating the  stitchery of the garments as a representation of a driving rain.

This must be a fairly direct reference to the great prints of  Hiroshige (or Hokusai) as seen by the two details at the bottom of this section.

THE FINEST KABUKI SITE ON THE INTERNET!

For additional information about

and images  by various artists of

Ichikawa Sadanji,

 Nakamura Shikan &

Onoe Kikugorō

link to the web sites listed below.

(Note that these actors like most of his successful peers performed under several different stage names.)