Utagawa Kunisada/Toyokuni III (1786-1865) Sawamura Tossho I in the Play Hachiman-gane Urami no Mijikayo, 1841. Oban triptych.
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This rather wonderful print of a kabuki drama based on real life is unusually rare and we cannot find a copy in museums or other collections. The print describes a scene from the kabuki drama Hachiman-gane Urami no Mijikayo, one of a number of plays based upon the story of tragic couple, Otsuma and Hachirobei .
Notes about an 1861 Kuniyoshi print of the same subject in the Fitzwilliam Museum say: The Otsuma and Hachirobei story was the subject of various Kabuki and Bunraku plays, although the exact performance related to this print has not been traced. It tells how Otsuma prostitutes herself to raise money for the cause of the lord of her husband Hachirobei. Not realising her selfless motives Hachirobei kills her in a rage.
In other versions, Hachirobei kills himself after having killed Otsuma as well. In still another version, Hachirobei, a dealer in secondhand goods, is having trouble raising the money that he needs to help his master's daughter. His wife, Otsuma, who knows of his difficulties, devises a plan with her mother by which Otsuma gives herself to the evil Yohee to raise the money. Against her wishes she must castigate Hachirobei, whom she really loves. Taking her remarks for the truth, Hachirobei kills both Otsuma and her mother. Later, when he learns the true facts, he commits ritual suicide.
In this very collectible boat triptych, we see Sawamura Tossho I as Hachirobei standing on the left with Iwai Shijaku I as Otsuma and Ichikawa Ebizo V as the villain Yahei. The setting of the pleasure boat was sexually provocative. In the overcrowded city of Edo, privacy to visit geisha or prostitutes was available on these covered boats and there are many prints in the genre including explicit shunga prints that exploit the knowingness of the viewer.
A fine design, the print is backed with thin Japanese album paper. Vertical album creases to the left of each sheet now repaired. That aside, condition is very good. Colour and impression are fine.
75 x 35.5 cm.
RESERVED
