• Nakamura Sankō I (中村三光) as Okumi (おくみ) kneeling in the foreground with Nakamura Tamanosuke I (中村玉之助) as the <i>decchi</i> (丁稚) or shop apprentice Santarō (三たろう) standing behind behind her
Nakamura Sankō I (中村三光) as Okumi (おくみ) kneeling in the foreground with Nakamura Tamanosuke I (中村玉之助) as the <i>decchi</i> (丁稚) or shop apprentice Santarō (三たろう) standing behind behind her
Nakamura Sankō I (中村三光) as Okumi (おくみ) kneeling in the foreground with Nakamura Tamanosuke I (中村玉之助) as the <i>decchi</i> (丁稚) or shop apprentice Santarō (三たろう) standing behind behind her

Shunshosai Hokuchō (春曙斎北頂) (artist )

Nakamura Sankō I (中村三光) as Okumi (おくみ) kneeling in the foreground with Nakamura Tamanosuke I (中村玉之助) as the decchi (丁稚) or shop apprentice Santarō (三たろう) standing behind behind her

Print


04/1827
10.5 in x 15.5 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Shunshosai Hokuchō ga
春曙斎北頂画
Publisher: Honya Seishichi
(Marks 123 - seal 25-527)
Prints of Japan - for more information about sasabeni
Philadelphia Museum of Art - the full triptych Kabuki21 provides this information:

The actors Nakamura Sankō I (left/seated) and Nakamura Tamanosuke I (right/standing) playing the roles of Okumi and the decchi Santarō in the drama "Sumidagawa Gonichi no Omokage", which was staged in the 4th lunar month of 1827 in Ôsaka at the Kita-Horie Ichi-no-Gawa Shibai.

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Special care was used in creating the image of Okumi. If you click on the image and then enlarge it you will see that her white collar of her under-robe is embossed with a pattern of interlaced monji or swastikas, a symbol of good in Asian cultures from India to Japan. The light pink material in her hair appears to be embossed, too. Her lower lip is colored green, the fashion of that day which was meant to enhance the beauty of the wearer. It is called sasabeni (笹紅) or 'bamboo grass rouge'. A true fashion statement.
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
Honya Seishichi (本屋清七) (publisher)
Nakamura Sankō I (初代中村三光: 11/1812 to 10/1813) (actor)
Nakamura Tamanosuke I (初代中村玉之助: from 11/1816 to 12/1827) (actor)