Kunishige (active 1847 - 1855) Jitsukawa Ensaburo as Kobuna Gengoro in Keisei Ishikawa Zome, c.1849. Deluxe Chuban.
Kunishige was a pupil of Kunimasu; otherwise little is known about him and he is not to be confused with Shigeharu who also used this name. This is a very handsome print, beautifully and extravagantly printed with extensive blind embossing. The Edo print scene is well recorded and there is a very comprehensive catalogue of kabuki plays and dramas from theatres stretching back two hundred years or more. Unfortunately, the Osaka scene is less well known and plays, and actors who were stars in Osaka, do not always migrate to the capital. Identification of characters - as in this case - can therefore be tiresomely unrewarding.
Nevertheless, this is a fine print, beautifully drawn and well realised. Colour, condition and impression are all fine. A copy of this print is in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
19cm x 26cm.