• Seki Sanjūrō II (関三十郎) as Inukawa Gakuzō (犬川額蔵) - left panel of a diptych from the play <i>Hana no ani tsubomi no yatsufusa</i> (花魁莟八総 - '8 Buds of the Plum Blossoms')
Seki Sanjūrō II (関三十郎) as Inukawa Gakuzō (犬川額蔵) - left panel of a diptych from the play <i>Hana no ani tsubomi no yatsufusa</i> (花魁莟八総 - '8 Buds of the Plum Blossoms')
Seki Sanjūrō II (関三十郎) as Inukawa Gakuzō (犬川額蔵) - left panel of a diptych from the play <i>Hana no ani tsubomi no yatsufusa</i> (花魁莟八総 - '8 Buds of the Plum Blossoms')
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Shunbaisai Hokuei (春梅斎北英) (artist )

Seki Sanjūrō II (関三十郎) as Inukawa Gakuzō (犬川額蔵) - left panel of a diptych from the play Hana no ani tsubomi no yatsufusa (花魁莟八総 - '8 Buds of the Plum Blossoms')

Print

01/1836
10.25 in x 14.75 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Shunbaisai Hokuei ga
春梅斎北英画
Publisher seal: Honya Seishichi
(Marks 123 - seal 25-527)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - full diptych
Tokyo Metropolitan Library - same panel
Tokyo Metropolitan Library - right panel
Hankyu Culture Foundation
Lyon Collection - another Hokuei composition illustrating a scene from this same play The play represented in this print was first performed in 1836. Written by Nishizawa Ippō (西沢一鳳: 1802-52) it was based on the earlier work of Takizawa Bakin (1767-1848) and his Nansō Satomi hakkenden or 'Satomi and the Eight Dogs' published between 1814-42.

This diptych commemorates a performance at the Naka Theater on 1/1836 in Osaka.

The inu of the name of this character, Inukawa, means 'dog'.

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This is the left panel of a diptych that help commemorate a performance of the play Hana no Ani Tsubomi no Yatsufusa (花魁莟八総) at the Naka Theater in 1/1836. The panel on the right - not seen here - shows one of the Eight Dog Heroes and floating in the air is the jewel he received at birth. Inukawa Gakuzō's jewel appears to be a pearl. Eight heroes and eight jewels, each representing one of eight Confucian virtues.

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Illustrated in:

1) Kamigata Yakusha Shusei, vol. 2, 1998, #375.

2) color in Schätze der Kamigata: Japanische Farbholzschnitte aus Osaka 1780-1880, MNHA (Musée national d'histoire et d'art Luxembourg), 2012, p. 14, #4. (Showing the full diptych in color.) The catalog enrry for the full diptych says: "Das Stück, eine der mehreren Dramatisierungen nach Takizawa Bakins berühmten Fortsetszungroman 'Nanso Satomi Hakkenden,' beschreibt die Abenteuer der acht inu- (Hund) Brüder, von denen jeder einen magischen Edelstein besitz, der hier am rechten oberen Bildrand erscheint."

A Google translation into English reads: "The play, one of several dramatizations based on Takizawa Bakin's famous serial novel 'Nanso Satomi Hakkenden,' describes the adventures of the eight inu (dog) brothers, each of whom possesses a magic gem, which appears here at the top right of the picture."

3) in color in a small reproduction of the whole diptych in Hokuei: Master of Osaka Kabuki Prints by John Fiorillo, Ludion, 2024, cat. 201, page 235.

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There is an unidentified collector's seal next to signature.
Seki Sanjūrō II (二代目関三十郎: 11/1807-2/1839) (actor)
Honya Seishichi (本屋清七) (publisher)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
Hakkenden (The Eight Dog Heroes - 八犬伝) (genre)
Kyokutei Bakin (曲亭馬琴) (author)