Utagawa Kunisada/Toyokuni III (1786-1865) Actors Sawamura Tanosuke and Nakamura Shikan in "A Map of the Ishison-daigonbori Trail-climbing Route", 1860. Oban.
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This print is an enigma. Fairly unknown; I can only find it in the outstanding Waseda Theatre Museum in Japan, but the enigma of the title… A Map of the Ishison-daigonbori Trail-climbing Route, gives little clue as to the story enacted here.
The two actors were big stars at the time, and in this presumably completely forgotten drama, they play the roles of two firemen. The lead climber is identified as such by the heavy banded coat that he is wearing. The goal of the climbing fireman remains unknown for the time being. The Edo fire service was a species of mafia-like organisations that operated as saviours of the people as well as intimidating gangsters. But this print is also a portrait of kabuki actors - itself a populist romanticisation of street culture - and it is an example of the now worldwide cult of the tattoo at its very inception. At this time in Japan, otokodate and Edo firemen were identifying their outsider status with popular heroes and warriors of myth and the kabuki stage… crucially imagined by the great ukiyo-e artists of the age. Here then we see the somewhat bathetic image of the young, tough outsider, in a full body tattoo, wielding the fire standard of his gang, acted by a soap opera hero in the manner of a samurai.
Nevertheless, this is a very beautiful tattoo actor print. The design, colour, impression and condition are all fine. Full size, including margins.
37cm x 25cm.
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