Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (artist 11/15/1797 – 03/05/1861)
Shizuka Gozen (静御前) from the series Biographies of Exceptional Persons of Loyalty and Honor (Chūkō meiyo kinjin den - 忠考名誉奇人傳)
ca 1845 – 1846
9.75 in x 14.25 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese color woodblock print
Signed: Chōōrō Kuniyoshi ga
朝櫻樓国芳画
Artist's seal: kiri
Publisher: Enshūya Matabei
(Marks 057 - seal 22-009)
Censor's seal: Kinugasa
British Museum
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Maizuru City - Ito Bunko via Ritsumeikan University The curatorial files at the British Museum say: "Shizuka-gozen in an elaborate robe dancing in Minamoto no Yoritomo's palace, amongst falling cherry blossoms."
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The text reads: 静御前[Shizuka Gozen]磯の禅師が子容貌美麗の白拍子[Shirabyōshi]なり男舞の名人と聞えし義経の妾となり義経奥州へ下る時吉野にて捕ハれ後鎌倉へくだり頼朝のまへにて貞心をあらハす」揃い物の一枚
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"Female dancers were crucial to the flowering of the performing arts in the medieval period. The shirabyōshi donned male court caps and white (shira) robes, danced to percussion accompaniment, and sang songs, including imayō. Although little is known about the nature of their performances, the dancers themselves figure prominently in the life and literature of the period. Shizuka Gozen, Giō, and Hotoke are immortalized in The Tale of the Heike and in the noh plays Yoshino Shizuka, Futari Shizuka, Futari Giō, and Hotoke no Hara. In his treatise entitled Three Elements (Sandō), Zeami places the artistic accomplishments of the shirabyōshi Giō, Gijo, and Shizuka alongside those of the famous Heian-period poets Lady Ise and Ono no Komachi."
Quoted from: Traditional Japanese Theater, edited by Karen Brazell, p. 8.
Enshūya Matabei (遠州屋又兵衛) (publisher)
Shizuka gozen (静御前) (role)