This representation of Utaemon IV 'cutting a mie' as a painting of Daruma is almost singular in Japanese woodblock prints. Even the use of broad black lines as if they were applied with a brush, such as the ones to be found in paintings of Daruma, while not unheard of, is highly unusual. Was the creation of this image the brainchild of Kuniyoshi, Utaemon, the publisher or the theater that produced the play? I am not sure we will ever know precisely, but are all richer for its existence.

Note: Click on the link above to the other example in the Lyon Collection and you will see that just such a scroll painting was used as a prop in a play at this time. However, that takes nothing away from the clever nature of this particular print. (JSV)

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This print commemorates a performance of the play Takagi Oriemon Budō Jitsuroku (高木織右武実録) at the Nakamura Theater.

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Illustrated:

1) In color in Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi 1797-1861 by Robert Schaap, p. 161.

2) In color in Kuniyoshi by Jūzō Suzuki, Heibonsha Limited, Publishers, 1992, no. 316.

3) In color in Japanese Prints: Images of the Floating World, Barry Davies Oriental Art, #72, illustrated on p. 95.