Onoe Matsusuke I (尾上松助) as the ghost of Iohata (いおはた...) and Iwai Kiyotarō II (岩井喜世太郎) as a boatman Tokubei (せんどう徳兵衛)

Utagawa Kunihisa (歌川国久) (artist )

Onoe Matsusuke I (尾上松助) as the ghost of Iohata (いおはた...) and Iwai Kiyotarō II (岩井喜世太郎) as a boatman Tokubei (せんどう徳兵衛)

Print


07/1804
9.5 in x 13 in (Overall dimensions) color woodblock print
Signed: Toyokuni monjin Kunihisa ga
豊国門人国久画
Publisher: Moriya Jihei (Marks 353 - seal 01-079)
The National Museum of Asian Art
Lyon Collection - another Kunihisa print showing Kiyotarō II as Tokubei
Lyon Collection - another Kunihisa print of Onoe Matsusuke as Iohata A dynamic ghost scene from the debut in 7/1804 of Tenjiku Tokubei ikoku no banashi (天竺徳兵衛韓噺) at the Kawarazaki Theater in Edo. Matsusuke was lauded for his performance in this role.

Kunihisa was a talented contemporary female artist in Toyokuni's early studio with Kunimasa. She is known by only a few designs, all featuring ghosts.

Toyokuni also produced a haunting rendition of Iohata at the same time, but published by a different house.

****

Illustrated in black and white in a small reproduction on page 332 of Masterful Illustions: Japanese Prints in the Anne van Biema Collection.
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Moriya Jihei (森屋治兵衛) (publisher)
Yūrei-zu (幽霊図 - ghosts demons monsters and spirits) (genre)
Iwai Kiyotarō II (二代目岩井喜世太郎) (actor)
Onoe Matsusuke I (初代尾上松助: 11/1755 to 10/1809) (actor)
Tsuruya Nanboku IV (四代目鶴屋南北) (author)