Kunisada and Yoshitoshi: Fireman with Tattoo and Firefighter Acrobatics Festival (SOLD)

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) and Yoshitoshi
Title: Re Brigade, Ninth Squad, the actor Kawarazaki Gonjuro I as Kawabata Denkichi Series: Edo no hana meisho-e 江戸廼花名勝会 (Flowers of Edo and Views of Famous Places)
Date: 1863

From Re Brigade, Ninth Squad, we see the actor Kawarazaki Gonjuro I as tattooed Kawabata Denkichi in the role of a fireman holding a red lantern, perhaps about to attend a festival. Atop the firemen’s lookout tower we see a young woman beating a drum. To the left we see firemen hoisting a ladder using their pole-hooks, with a fireman at the top performing an acrobatic maneuver. This portion was designed by Yoshitoshi. At the very top is a design showing a tilted ladder and a group of lanterns with the character for “nine”. We can assume that this design is picturing a firemen festival, perhaps Dezome-shiki, which featured acrobatic performances by firemen atop ladders and begin in 1659. It is still performed every year.

The term “flowers of Edo” (Edo no hana) can refer, among other things, to fires. The title panel for each print in this series shows the lanterns and identifying standard (matoi) for one of the brigades of firefighters (hikeshi) assigned to various districts. On the west side of the Sumida River were 48 brigades named for the symbols of the kana syllabary and grouped into 8 numbered groups (1 to 10, minus the bad-luck numbers 4 and 7). On the east side of the river, brigades were numbered and assigned to directional groups. Outlying districts were covered by special brigades, here designated “extra” (bangai). Each title gives the name or number of a brigade, its group, and its district, followed by the kabuki scene chosen to match it. Each print highlights the most famous aspects of an individual district in Edo, and includes a scene from the district and a kabuki actor portrait that relates to the place in some way. There is a lot going on in each design, as in the upper right are the standards and lanterns for specific fire brigades, and on the upper left are usually magic lantern slides. Then there are one or two designs that comprise the lower portion, with Kunisada designing the actor portrait and various (21! in total for the series) other artists designing the landscape scenes. 

Condition: Very good impression, color and condition. A minor innate flaw in the paper in right margin. Dimensions: ôban (35.3 x 24.2 cm)
Publisher: Katôya Iwazoô (Seibei)
Literature: See MFA, FAMSF (Achenbach) museums online for other works from this series. A reference book has been privately published by Simon Henry that examines this entire series.
Signature: Toyokuni ga, Yoshitoshi hitsu

SKU: KUS561