Kunisada 国貞: 布袋丸市右衛門 Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Otokodate Hoteimaru Ichiemon in the pose of Taira no Tomomori

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865)
Title: 布袋丸市右衛門 Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Otokodate Hoteimaru Ichiemon in the pose of Taira no Tomomori

Series: Legends of Chivalrous Kabuki Heroes 梨園侠客伝 (Rien kyokaku den) Date: 1863

Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Hoteimaru Ichiemon, shown clutching a huge mottled anchor with a prominent yellow rope. Around him fall small white paper triangles, which represents falling snow as would be seen by the audience in the theater. These “snowflakes” were scattered from overhead baskets above the stage, and were employed to further heighten the emotion of the scene, as here. The plovers (chidori) are also amplifying the mood of tragic nobility, as they also traditionally pictured to further intensify the pathos the moment. The character of Hotei Ichiemon is one of the Karigane Five, the otokodate (fashionable street knights ) who were the outlaw heroes of many popular plays of the time--however, none of those plotlines would have involved the character casting himself into the ocean from a large ship. The pose of grasping a giant anchor and rope is the unmistakable visual signature of the legend of the doomed Taira no Tomomori and the scene where he ties himself to a ship’s anchor and dives into the waves at the Battle of Dan-no-ura. (Kodanji IV himself played this role in 1856.) This must be an example of parallel roles, an in-joke mashup of sorts between the commoner hero and the iconic 12th century samurai. Ichiemon is visually channeling Tomomori’s famous anchor-lifting pose, so we may consider this a mitate or naimaze. A further clue is that the nautical suffix “-maru” has been added to Hotei’s name, so “maru” may further link the two characters together. This series features absolutely breathtaking printing quality, and our examples come from a near-complete set of the luxurious first edition. With mica in the sky, blindprinting in the rope, lacquer-imitating shine on the black, woodgrain in the sky, and an unusual freshness that belies the age of the work.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Extremely fresh; untrimmed and unbacked, on deluxe paper. Minor repaired binding holes in white left margin. Dimensions: ôban (37.4 x 26.3 cm)
Publisher: Hiranoya Shinzô 
Signature: Nanajūhassai Toyokuni hitsu 七十八歳豊国筆

References: See MFA Boston, National Diet Library, accession number 1304051.

SKU: KUS639