Utagawa Kuniteru (1808 - 1876) Nakamura Shikan IV as Masakiyo (Kato Kiyomasa), 1867. Oban Triptych.
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This stunning design is a portrait of the actor Nakamura Shikan IV as Masakiyo. (Kato Kiyomasa). The grim face sits like a mountain peak on the foundation of the two vast white circles of his coat. This is one of those rare and inspired pictures from lesser known artists and is an especially pleasing and successful design. The character here is in reality, Kato Kiyomasa, also called Toranosuke, a Japanese daimyo. Born in 1562, Kiyomasa was a relative of Hideyoshi, into whose service he entered upon reaching manhood, soon distinguishing himself in battle. Upon Hideyoshi’s death in 1598, Kiyomasa returned to Japan and aided Tokugawa Ieyasu. For his services, he received the Castle of Kumamoto as his provincial residence. He also brutally suppressed Christianity in Kyushu. In his later years, he tried to work as a mediator for the increasingly complicated relationship between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyori. In 1611, en route by sea to Kumamoto, he fell ill, and died shortly after his arrival. It was rumoured that he was poisoned by Tokugawa Ieyasu. He became, under the thinly disguised name of Sato Masakiyo, the hero of many kabuki dramas. In order to avoid the Shogunate censorship, the identity of all historical characters were disguised (more or less lightly).
The design owes a great deal to a Yoshitoshi portrait of Shikan in the same role from three years earlier. Kuniteru has added the grand circles and tightened the design with greater confidence.
The colour and impression are fine with complex, polished shomen-zuri burnish to the hat. The condition is very good with a visible centrefold. There is a copy of this print in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
36cm x 25cm.
