About This Print
Source: Time Present and Time Past: Images of a Forgotten Master: Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900), Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing, 1999, p. 46.One of twelve prints in a collaborative series by Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900) and Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889). Kunichika depicts the actor Suketakaya Takasuke IV (Sawamura Tossho II) in the role of Hotoke Gozen. Kyōsai depicts two nuns retiring at a solitary mountain cottage, a reference to Hotoke Gozen, whose name means ‘nun’.
For a profile of the kabuki actor Suketakaya Takasuke IV (Sawamura Tossho II) see the article The Kabuki Actor.
The Series Famous Views of the Twelve Months
Source: Time Present and Time Past: Images of a Forgotten Master: Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900), Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing, 1999, p. 42, 45, 46.The second of two collaborative series on the twelve months done by Kunichika and Kyōsai in the 1880s, the other being The Twelve Months Parodied, released c. 1880. As in the The Twelve Months Parodied, the roles of the actors in the foreground are associated with Kyōsai’s background scenes, contained within an insert. These two series "best represent the collaborative efforts between Kunichka and Kyōsai."
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #688 |
| Title (Description) | The seventh month 七月: Suketaya Takasuke IV 助高屋 高助 in the role of Hotoke Gozen 仏御前 |
| Series | Famous Views for the Twelve Months 地名十二ヶ月之内 Chimei junikagetsu |
| Artists | Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900) and Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889) |
| Signatures |   |
| Seals | red Toshidama seal beneath Kunichika signature |
| Publication Date |  |
| Publisher |  (family name Takegawa Seikichi; sealed as Takegawa Seikichi from 1876) Left cartouche: Shuppanjin 出版 人 武川清吉 shuppanjin Takegawa Seikichi located at 本銀丁二丁目十二バンチ Right cartouche: 画工荒川八十八 gakou (painter) Arakawa Yasohachi (Kunichika's mother's surname, Arakawa, and the artist's given name, Yasohachi, followed by the artist's address) [Marks: pub. ref. 459; seal not shown] |
| Carver |  |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | fair- full margins; unbacked; soiling; extensive wrinkling |
| Genre | ukiyo-e; yakusha-e |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | vertical oban |
| H x W Paper | 14 3/4 x 9 7/8 in. (37.5 x 25.1 cm) |
| H x W Image | 13 3/4 x 9 (34.9 x 22.9 cm) |
| Literature | Time Present and Time Past: Images of a Forgotten Master: Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900), by Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing, 1999, fig. 31 p. 48. |
| Collections This Print | The Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum of Waseda University 201-4560; Tokyo Metropolitan Library 5714-C069 |
7/28/2021
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