Utagawa Toyokuni I (初代歌川豊国) (artist 1769 – 02/24/1825)
Nakamura Shikan I (中村芝翫) as a black man or kuronbō (黒んばう) carrying a large piece of coral
09/09/1819
10 in x 14.5 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Toyokuni ga
Publisher: Yamamotoya Heikichi
(Marks 595 - seal 04-007
Censor seal: kiwame
Waseda University
Lyon Collection - Yoshikuni of Nakamura Utaemon in the same role in 1825
Edo-Tokyo Museum
Tokyo Metropolitan Library -1819 Kunisada print of the same role and actor As we can see from this series this is most definitely from one of those spectacular quick quick-change performances which so totally wowed their audiences. A tour de force of theatricality for the actor who is capable of pulling it off.
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There are two prints in the Lyon Collection of the same man acting under different stage names, several years apart, as the black man or kuronbō - first as Shikan I and later as Utamaro III. The kuronbō was only one stage persona is a set of quick change figures. For the other example go to #124.
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One can only speculate how Shikan was received by the audience when he appeared as a South Seas native carrying a large piece of coral. Perhaps it was somewhat like the late 19th to early 20th century American crowds when performers in black face appeared in minstrel shows. A raucous time was had by all.
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Kuronbō (黒ん坊) is generally used as a denigrating terms. At best it can describe 'darkies', but at its most vulgar it is tantamount to using the 'n' word in the United States. While the Japanese already held a dim view of dark skinned people their prejudices were reinforced by the biases of the Dutch who visited Nagasaki. In fact, while Dutch men could visited the prostitutes of that port, sexual contact with kuronbō was discouraged.
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Illustrated in color reproduction in Japanese Woodblock Prints: Artists, Publishers and Masterworks 1680-1900 by Andreas Marks, Tuttle Publishing, 2010, page 260.
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Nakamura Utaemon III (三代目中村歌右衛門) (actor)
Yamamotoya Heikichi (山本屋平吉) (publisher)