Natori Shunsen (名取春仙) (artist 1886 – 1960)

Ichimura Uzaemon XV [十五代目市村羽左衛門] in the role of Shirai Gonpachi from the series Shin Nigao-e

Print

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Date:1915
Dimensions:5.25 in x 8.375 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:Japanese woodblock print
Inscription:Signed: Shunsen (春仙)
Artist's floral seal in red
Links The British Museum (via Ritsumeikan University)
British Museum - vol. 5 of these prints - click through to see this one
Honolulu Museum of Art
National Gallery of Australia Description:The curatorial files at the British Museum contain a lot of information about the origin of this print: what grouping it came from, the nature of the title of this set and the reason for it publication.

"Shibai: Shin nigao-e 芝居: 新似顔絵 (The Theatre: New Portraits of Actors) (The Theatre: New Portraits of Actors)"

"Yakusha-e 新似顔 (Portraits of Actors (Furigana reading of characters)) (Portraits of Actors (Furigana reading of characters))"

"Shin nigao 新似顔 (New Portraits of Actors (Chinese-style reading of characters)) (New Portraits of Actors (Chinese-style reading of characters))"

"Description
Illustrated book. Vol. 5 of five volumes published serially in various formats. Depictions of actors and court officials, associated with the coronation of the Emperor Taisho. Woodblock-printed."

In the curator's comments they added: "Individual volumes published under the title with Chinese characters reading 'Shin nigao' and furigana reading 'Yakusha-e'. Kept together in a box affixed with a label inscribed with the title 'Shibai shin nigao-e'. Museum holds volumes published in June, July, August, October and November 1915."

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"In 1679 a rōnin by the name of Hirai Gonpachi, a regular visitor to the Yoshiwara, was beheaded on the execution ground in Shinagawa. When he was sixteen years of age Gonpachi was said to have killed a man in his home province and subsequently escaped to Edo. Gonpachi followed this violent act by a series of thefts and murders in Edo until he was caught and executed. He would have been a criminal of no consequence, except for the legend that connected him with Komurasaki. The fictionalized story tells us that Komurasaki was deeply in love with Gonpachi (last name Shirai in fiction), who was reputed to be extremely handsome. The legend says that, after his death, she had her wealthy patron purchase her contract. The night of her release, she went to the cemetery of her lover and ended her life with a sharp knife."

Quoted from: Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan by Cecilia Segawa Seigle, p. 89.

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This is #181 in the Natori Shunsen (名取春仙) exhibition catalogue from Kushigata in 1991.

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The publisher was Nigaodō (似顔洞) and the carver was Bonkotsu Igami (凡骨伊上: 1875-1933).
Related entities actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
modern prints (shin hanga - 新版画) (genre)
Ichimura Uzaemon XV (十五代目市村羽左衛門) (actor)
Shirai Gonpachi (白井権八) (role)

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