Utagawa Yoshitora (active 1850-1880) Okubi-e Portrait of The Actor Nakamura Shikan As Gotobei, 1869. Oban. Click here for a full-size image. Where to start with this stunning portrait of the actor Nakamura Shikan? Since the artist is Yoshitora and it is an okubi-e the obvious conclusion is that the print forms part of the extraordinary series that Kunisada conceived as his swan-song in the late 1850’s, early 1860’s, ably assisted by Yoshitora... except that it isn’t. It is tempting also to ignore the signature and say that in style, finish and border design that this must be from Kunichika’s later series of okubi-e that rival Kunisada’s outstanding achievement… except this print is not by Kunichika and so it cannot be that. The print, although previously unrecorded seems to be that rare thing: a missing link. Stylistically and in terms of date, this outstanding and extraordinary print appears to connect Kunisada’s mighty series and one of the few other oban okubi-e prints of the century, those of Kunichika, begun in 1869. Okubi-e (large head portrait prints) are generally credited to the artist Katsukawa Shunko I (1743 - 1812). The format was banned by the shogunate in 1800 for around a decade but then started to creep back in popularity. This series by Kunisada and Yoshitora revives the tradition but with the cropping of the margin even closer to the subject, making a greater visual impact. As mentioned above, although frequently ignored, Osaka artists were frequent visitors to Kunisada’s studio and indeed pupils and their portrait conventions must seemingly have played a part. Yoshitora’s contribution to the series cannot be underestimated. The print pictures the kabuki actor Nakamura Shikan… the question is which one? The print may commemorate Shikan III’s performance of this character even though he was long dead by the 1860’s. Various prints exist of the actor in this role showing very similar facial expressions. The character of Gotobe (Gotobei) appears in the play, Yoshitsune Koshigoejo. The play nominally concerns the rivalries of the Minamoto clan. Gotobe is a lowly retainer of a servant of the great war lord Yoshitsune, but his drunkenness and laziness conceal a fine strategic mind. Gotobe is both contemptible but also brave, cunning and smart. During the play whilst drunk most of the time, he divorces his ambitious wife, mourns the suicide of his daughter and yet ends up serving his master with strong advice and loyal service. In a dramatic tableau, the play concludes, leaving the audience captivated by the intensity of the characters' emotions and the uncertain fate that awaits them. This print then is an anomaly. Definitely not part of the Kunisada series, Actor Portraits Past and Present nor seemingly part of any other series, the print appears to stand on its own. I am not aware that Yoshitora carried out any further okubi-e prints after the end of the Kunisada commission. What surprises me more is how close this print is in style and production to that of Kunichika’s later series… it is tempting is it not, to imagine that Yoshitora was somehow involved in Kunichika’s series of later in the decade? Well, that is all supposition I am afraid. The print is full size and completely outstanding. A rare item; I know of one other in the Waseda museum in Tokyo, and we have sold one other. Colour, impression and condition are all fine, one or two minor worm holes, repaired. An important print formally, it seems to me that the piece carries the stylistic innovations of the first part of the century into the later Meiji, a period that was characterised so much by bolder forms and colours. I think this is an important and culturally outstanding artefact. 36 x 25 cm.
