Shunkōsai Hokushū (春好斎北洲) (artist ca 1808 – 1832)
Ichikawa Ebijūrō I (市川鰕十郎) as Teraoka Heiemon (寺岡平右衛門)
03/1822
9.375 in x 13.875 in (Overall dimensions) color woodblock print
Signed: Shunkōsai Hokushū ga
春好斎北洲画
Publisher seal: Honya Seishichi
(Marks 123 - seal 25-527)
Co-publisher: Yamaichi (Marks U438 - seal 02-036)
The National Museum of Asian Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Lyon Collection - the full triptych
Lyon Collection - another copy of the right panel
Valtion Taidemuseo (The Finnish National Gallery) This is the left panel of a triptych depicting Ebijūrō, Utaemon III, and Matsue III. This performance of the play Ōishizuri Sakura Tanzaku must have been great as it has been depicted by artists of both Hokushū and Yoshikuni circles. This print helps commemorate a performance at the Naka Theater in 3/1822.
****
The National Museum of Asian Art says of this print:
"In this print, which is the left print of a triptych (see also S2004.3.260), Ichikawa Ebijuro I plays the character of a kabuki policemen known as torite. The bold, patterned background, a common feature in Osaka actor prints, is rendered in reserve, and is based on the actor's family crest.
The poem inscribed on the print praises Ebijuro's sword performances, referring to the phrase, "a thousand ryo actor," or one who deserves an extravagant salary:
He receives rave reviews
for taking lead roles
in sword-fight scenes-
surely done well enough
to deserve a thousand ryō.
Translation of poems by John T. Carpenter"
****
Illustrated in:
1) color in Ikeda Bunko, Kamigata yakusha-e shūsei (Collected Kamigata Actor Prints), vol. 1, Ikeda Bunko Library, Osaka 1997, no. 122, p. 46.
2) color in Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints in the Anne van Biema Collections, University of Washington Press, 2002, page 149.
3) color in Osaka Prints by Dean J. Schwaab, Rizzoli, 1989, page 86, plate 45. The whole triptych is illustrated. This is the left-hand panel.
Honya Seishichi (本屋清七) (publisher)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Ichikawa Ebijūrō I (初代市川鰕十郎 9/1815 to 7/1827) (actor)
Yamaichi (山市) (publisher)