Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) Actor in Role, 1843-46. Oban Kakemono-e.
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The kakemono-e describes the vertical diptych format of woodblock print, popular in the first half of the nineteenth century. The form derives from earlier, hand painted scrolls of Buddhist deities and Chinese calligraphy mounted on silk or brocade and designed to be hung in the tokonoma (alcoves), with perhaps a flower arrangement or piece of pottery to form an important and sometimes reverential display. These displays would change according to season or festival.
During the late Edo period, the form was expanded to include new genres: theatre scenes and oiran (prostitutes), or geisha; or as in this case, romantic male figures from Japanese myth and history. This character purports to be a hero such as Yoshitsune Minamoto perhaps, but is in reality a popular kabuki actor identifiable by the circular white mon on his kimono. These pictures clearly depart from the function of the earliest form and can be seen as another emblematic shift towards the pleasures enjoyed by the burgeoning townsman culture.
This very good example by Kuniyoshi is rare. These prints were sometimes pasted directly into alcoves or else the scrolls on which they were mounted were thrown away. As decorative objects they were exposed to the fatty fumes of burning oil lamps and so on. Colour, impression are fine. Condition is fair, the print has been trimmed to fit a scroll as is often the case and there is some scuffing. There are several repaired wormholes as is often the case with these prints since they were kept displayed rather than in albums.
Published by Maruya Seijiro.
23cm x 68cm.
