初代市川男女蔵像|Memorial Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa Ōmezō I

Utagawa Kunisada|Ichikawa Danjūrō VII

painting ca. 1833; inscription dated 1858 · Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk · Asian Art

Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ōmezō I (1781–1833) is shown in a formal pose, wearing a persimmon brown ceremonial kimono (kamishimo). Omezō was a leading man (tachiyaku) known for his penetrating eyes and distinctive hooknose. In 1858, probably for a memorial service for Ōmezo’s twenty-seventh death anniversary, an inscription was added by prominent Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VII (Ebizō V). In distinctive, dynamic cursive calligraphy, he eulogized his mentor, referring to him by the name Sōdai: From the time of my youth, until I became a serious actor, I knew the joys of the path of acting in the Ichikawa lineage, and never lost enthusiasm for the aragoto style, and the acting methods that should last forever. For a long while, he made it his duty to lend me support from the depths of his heart— Ichikawa Sōdai.

Artist

Utagawa Kunisada|Ichikawa Danjūrō VII

Date

painting ca. 1833; inscription dated 1858

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 2021