JAPANESE PRINTS
A MILLION QUESTIONS
TWO MILLION MYSTERIES
Ukiyo-e Prints浮世絵版画 |
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Port Townsend, Washington |
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UTAGAWA KUNISADA |
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歌川国貞 |
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うたがわくにさだ |
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1786-1865 |
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Actor: Iwai Hanshirō V |
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岩井半四郎 |
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いわいはんしろう |
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Role:Masagoji |
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真砂路 |
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まさごじ |
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Play: Yakko yakko Edo no hanayari |
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奴江戸花鎗 |
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やっこやっこえどのはなやり |
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Publisher: Yamaguchiya Tōbei (Kinkodō) |
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版元: 山口屋藤兵衛 (錦耕堂) |
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はんもと: やまぐちやとうべえ(きんこうどう) |
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Date: 1819, 11th Month, 18th Day |
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Bunsei 2 |
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文政２年 |
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Size: 15 1/4" x 10 3/8" |
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Signed: Kunisada ga |
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署名: 国貞画 |
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しょめい: くにさだが |
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Condition: Good color, unbacked, slight surface soiling. Several small holes, two worm holes in the paneling to the right of the phoenix at the top. A repaired wormhole in the area of the scroll near the base of the railing. There is also a repaired wormhole in the center of the top railing. Another repair on the vertical beam on the right near the top cross-beam. And a very small wormhole, unnoticeable, in the pinkish area just to the right of that. |
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$420.00 SOLD! |
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There is another copy of this print in the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum at Waseda University. This print has the look of being the top panel of a vertical diptych, but to date we have not found the supposed lower panel. On the other hand, it functions perfectly well as a single oban print. And yet...there is another single Kunisada print of an actor from the same performance holding the bottom of the unfurled letter. However, this does not appear close enough to our eyes to be the lower half of the print featured on this page. In that case the upper panel is a mystery. Nevertheless, both prints do have the same publisher's seals. But they do not line up. I have tried to match them, but it just doesn't work. |
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Kiwame Seal & Publisher's Seal |
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Detail view of the back of this print. |
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USE OF THE CHINESE ARCHITECTURAL MOTIF |
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Above is an Eizan print of a courtesan writing a letter. Notice the floral panels decorating the background and the similarity to the print by Kunisada featured on this page. |
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