Utagawa Kunisada/Toyokuni III (1786-1865) Flowers of Edo #14: Kumi of Kita-kumi, 1863. Oban.
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A fine print from the exceptional and baffling series, the Flowers of Edo… and Views of Famous Places. ("Edo no hana meisho-e"). The term ‘Flowers of Edo’ has many interpretations. It can refer to the most beautiful and outstanding things in Edo, such as the best actors, beautiful women, famous landscapes, and most accomplished artists. There are many theatre and fire brigade related prints by artists going across the nineteenth century.
It is also a colloquial expression, used to refer to the destructive fires that frequently devastated the city; an ironic simile for the devastating but briefly flowering oranges and reds of the urban horror. The term therefore also applies to the Edo firemen who were admired for their bravery and enthusiasm in fighting fires, thus being considered a "flower" of Edo themselves. The irony extends here to the fact that these heroic young men were also feared for their extortion, casual violence and gang mentality… they were after all the precursors of the modern day Yakuza gangs that tyrannise some parts of Tokyo today. The series "Edo no hana meishō-e" is dedicated to the Edo Fire Department.
The very large series comprises seventy prints, plus a title print, printed on thick paper in oban format, published by Katoya Seibei between 1861 and 1865. Each print is divided into four sections… series and sheet title, a half-length actor portrait in a specific kabuki role, a section with a city or landscape view and a "Miscellaneous" section. The section with the actor was always designed by Kunisada but the other two sections are designed by different artists. In addition to Kunisada, a total of 19 other woodblock print artists and one named calligrapher participated. Most of the artists were members of the Utagawa school, but some belonged to other schools. Little or nothing is known about some of them.
At the end of the Edo period, the professional fire department in Edo was divided into a total of 64 brigades. For a more detailed breakdown of the subject I recommend the Kunisada site kunisada.de; and the book by Simon Henry, The Flowers of Edo: Aspects of the Edo-no-Hana Meisho-e Print Series, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-646-52759-8; from which the following quote is taken:
Each print highlights the "finest/most treasured" aspects of an individual Edo district - which is where the title comes into play, The Flowers of Edo. The panels in each of the works are in an arrangement that displays a Title Section [which has the name and Troop number of the local Fire Department in it], a Scene from the District, a Significant Story about the District and a Kabuki Actor portrait that relates to the District in some way [as well as classical songs, poetry, historical accounts and commercial advertisements that are associated with the famous locations too].
This print shows the actor Sawamura Tossho II in the role of Ume no Yoshibei, a role based on the real life murderer Kichibe who killed Chokichi for money in in 1689.
A fine print, full size and unbacked. Colour, impression and condition are all fine. A copy of this print is in the San Francisco, Legion of Honour Museum.
36cm x 25cm.
