Utagawa Kunisada/Toyokuni III (1786-1865) A Scene from the Play Chiyo no Haru Tosa-e no Saya-ate, 1860, Oban triptych.
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This very robust kabuki triptych is by the master of kabuki theatre prints, Kunisada. The print is a scene from the play, Chiyo no Haru Tosa-e no Saya-ate and shows the actors, (reading from right to left) Kawarazaki Gonjuro I as Nagoya Sanza, Sawamura Tanosuke III as Kanbayashi Katsuragi, and Nakamura Shikan IV as Fuwa Banzaemon.
The play is one written about the famous bandit, wrongdoer and popular folk hero, Banzaemon. It tells the story of Nagoya Sanza, a samurai who was banished from his clan after the wicked Fuwa Banzaemon stole a valuable scroll in his care. Sanza’s wife, Katsuragi, (centre) has sold herself to a brothel to provide Sanza with funds to search for the scroll. In this scene, the two rivals meet in separate covered carts. The most famous of the Banzaemon plays, Ukiyozuka Hiyoku no Inazuma, has the rivals, each in disguise meeting and quarrelling in the Yoshiwara district… the very famous scene of ‘touching swords’.
The cherry blossoms are adding an extra gay colour to Yoshiwara, the pleasures quarter of Edo. Night fire watchmen pass each other, one coming from the east and the other from the west.
Presently, Banzaemon, known as Teranishi Kanshin, comes along in a fancy kimono patterned with thunderbolts, wearing a wicker traveling hat. Sanza, in a similar hat and wearing the kimono with the pattern of swallows, also appears. They both praise the beauty of Yoshiwara. As they pass each other, their sword scabbards touch. Banzaemon seizes Sanza's scabbard and accuses him of not meeting Banzaemon respectfully. Sanza retorts by telling him that there are other people besides himself. Both remove their hats and disclose themselves. Banzaemon boasts that he intends to take Katsuragi as his companion even at the risk of his life. Sanza will not have it. They draw and are about to fight, when Oume, the mistress of a tea-house, rushes between them. They agree to stop their fight for the moment. However, Banzaemon swears that he cannot sheathe his sword without seeing blood. Oume suggests that they should exchange their swords, each keeping his own scabbard. When they do it, the swords are found to be almost identical. Since Sanza's scabbard was made to be identical to that of the stolen sword "Kunitoshi", it is almost certain that Banzaemon stole the sword and killed Sanza's father. However, to keep Oume in countenance Sanza decides to fight Banzaemon some other time and walks away.
(Kabuki 21)
A very fine theatre triptych, colour, impression and condition all fine, some margins and unbacked, minor marks and blemishes. A copy of the print is in the Museum of Fine Art, Boston.
Published by Enshuya Hikobei.
74 x 37 cm.
