Konishi Hirosada (ca 1810 - 1864) Shiyabon-dama, 1840’s. Deluxe Chuban.
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This beautiful and poignant print by the peerless Hirosada is of an actor… possibly Nakamura Tamaschichi, as the soap-bubble pedlar. The performance was an elaborate dance. It is a summer afternoon in the city. A tamaya, or soap-bubble pedlar, calls children to gather around him. He blows his bubbles for the children then dances cheerfully, using a fan and his umbrella, with the soap bubbles drifting in the air. He would also have used a toy butterfly to mimic the gestures of a butterfly peddler. After dancing to humorous tunes, the tamaya moves on to a different district.
Soap bubbles are a popular street distraction in Japan. Shabondama, a very common nursery rhyme written in 1907, remains popular to this day. The lyric recalls the kabuki dance of a century earlier:
The soap bubble flew
It flew up to the roof
But reaching the roof,
It broke and was no more.
The soap bubble broke
It broke before flying
So soon after it was born,
It broke and was no more.
Wind, wind, don't you cry
Let my bubble fly.
In this print, Hirosada pictures the mournful… clown-like actor, with his box of soap bubbles hanging from his neck, his folded umbrella over his shoulder. A beautiful and delicate print. Colour and impression are all very good, condition excellent; unbacked and with full margins.
A copy of this print is in the collection of the Art Institute, Chicago.
25cm x 18cm.
