Untitled

Katsukawa Shunchō

1787 · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

Three actors strike dramatic poses (mie) on the stage while behind them, on a raised platform, singers narrate the story with samisen music, a Kabuki musical type known as tokiwazu. The actor on the right is Ichikawa Komazo II (1737–1802), the future Matsumoto Koshiro IV, who became a pupil of Danjūrō IV in 1757 and took the name of Koshiro in 1772. His kimono is covered with a design of the crest of the hereditary name Koshiro, four flowers arranged in the shape of a diamond.

Artist

Katsukawa Shunchō

Date

1787

Medium

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936