Description:
vertical ōban; nishiki-e; yakusha-e; probably the central panel of a triptych.
Label Text:
This print is signed at lower-right "Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga" ('drawn by Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi"). The actor and his role are indicated in the text at top-left. At lower-left are visible the circular kiwame seal of the censor and the mark of publisher Sōshūya Yohei.
The subject of the play is a love affair between the Sumō wrestler and his Yoshiwara girlfriend, as well as the attempted theft of a valuable sword. Here, Kuniyoshi has emphasized many aspects of the story in a single image: Shirafuji Genta, a champion wrestler, is rendered very large — also a nod to the renowed immense stature of Nakamura Utaemon IV — and is carrying the purloined sword, while the lanterns at the top of the print are covered with advertisements for the pleasure quarters of the Yoshiwara, the place of employ of the main character's lover.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2005.452 |
