Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900). Ichikawa Danjuro in the play Butai Akaruki Chisei no Yoshibai, 1878. Oban triptych.
Click here for a full-size image.
This tremendous Kunichika triptych is a kabuki drama based upon the popular novel, Nanso Satomi Hakkenden, known simply as the Eight Dog Heroes, or the Hakkenden for short. The story and the plot of the novels and the plays recounts the lives of eight brothers who feature in the extraordinary 106 volume The Eight Dog Chronicles, written by Kyokutei Bakin (1767 - 1848). The complex plot centres on the eight offspring of a supernatural marriage between a princess and her father’s dog. Shamed at the birth of her children, she kills herself and the eight beads of her rosary, each representing a Buddhist virtue, become crystal orbs and disperse, the children being reborn to normal mothers sixteen years later. Each child (unknown to its siblings) has a specific supernatural gift. Dosetsu’s Confucian gift is loyalty (Chu), a gift imposed on him by the gods along with the magical ability to manipulate fire and water.
The novels are so long, the plays so numerous that it is not easy to say which scene transpires above. The great kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjuro plays the central, raging figure… smoke billowing from behind him. In the main play of the novels, the brothers are reunited in the first act. None of them know each other, but become acquainted and then pledge to revive the fortunes of their family, the Satomi. The second act which was wildly popular with audiences involves the brothers assembling at an inn and defeating a witch in the form of a gigantic flying cat. The kabuki drama utilised all of the latest special effects to bring to life the aerial combat between the brothers and the transformed witch.
A very fine example of Kunichika as a kabuki artist at the very height of his skills. Full size, colour condition and impression are all fine. Shomen-zuri to Danjuro's robe.
Publisher: Yamamura Kinzaburo.
71 x 36 cm.
