Gigadō Ashiyuki (戯画堂芦ゆき) (artist )
Memorial Print to Commemorate Arashi Kitsusaburō I (嵐橘三郎) as Ikaruga Tōta (いかるが藤太) from the play Toki wa Ima Ariwara Keizu (時再興在原系図)
1821
10 in x 15.1875 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Hand-stamped: Ashiyuki (芦ゆき)
Publisher's seal in red: Wataya Kihei?
National Museum of Asian Art - the Pulverer Collection "There were a couple of years starting in late 1819 in which Ashiyuki produced few if any prints. Then in late 1821 he produced "...three compositions relating to the last performance and death of Arashi Kitsusaburō I..."
Quoted from: Osaka Prints by Dean J. Schwaab, Rizzoli, 1989, p. 28.
On both sides of Tōta's head are multi-color designs of a dragon wrapped around the blade of sword.
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Illustrated:
1) in a full page, black and white, reproduction in Andon 36, March 1991, in an article entitled: 'Utagawa Sadamasu, creator of the Osaka chūban style' by Jan van Doesburg, p. 112. Van Doesburg wrote: " In the development of the surimono-style in Osaka, Gigadō Ashiyuki (active 1813-1833) played a dominant part. This is not surprising as he is known for anticipating a great number of improvements of the process of printmaking in Osaka. His earliest chūban prints date from 1821. One of these shows a splendid bust-portrait of the actor Arashi Kitsusaburō I as Ikaruga Tōta... Toki wa Ima Ariwara Keizu. It is executed with use of blindprinting, burnishing, metallic pigments and with sprinkling on the background." (Ibid. p. 115)
2) in a small color reproduction - only the right-hand side - in Kabuki Heroes on the Osaka Stage: 1780-1830 by C. Andrew Gerstle, Timothy Clark, and Kiko Yano, 2005, p. 229.
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There is another print in the Lyon Collection showing a character from the play Toki wa Ima Ariwara Keizu. It is an Ashiyuki piece, #465.
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
Arashi Kichisaburō II (二代目嵐吉三郎: 1/1784 to 12/1820) (actor)
shini-e (死絵) (genre)
Arashi Kitsusaburō I (初代嵐橘三郎: from 1/1821 to 9/26/1821) (actor)