About This Print
The Series One Hundred Roles of Ichikawa Danjūrō
Source: Time Present and Time Past: Images of a Forgotten Master: Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900), Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing, 1999, p. 127 and 26.
"In 1893 Kunichika undertook a commission for two series of single-sheet portraits that were each dedicated to an individual actor. The first of these, One hundred roles of Danjūrō, featured the major roles of Ichikawa Danjūrō IX (1838-1903) in a set of half-length portraits. A square cartouche in the upper register of each print contains a verse or illustration, and the series title cartouche is backed by peonies, a flower associated with Danjūrō IX."
“While his best-known pieces from this period are triptychs, Kunichika produced some outstanding series of single-sheet portraits, such as the One hundred roles of Ichikawa Danjuro IX (Ichikawa Danjuro engei hyakuban) and One hundred roles of Baiko (Baiko hyakushu no uchi). Like Kunisada’s set of ‘large-head’ portraits, Kunichika’s two series may be regarded as ‘monuments to his [Kunichika’s] career’. Whilst Kunisada attempted an overview of all the greatest actors of the age, Kunichika’s two series focus on the Kabuki doyens, Ichikawa Danjuro IX and Onoe Kikugoro V.
The publisher Fukuda Kumajiro (together with Gusokuya Kahei) commissioned Kunichika to begin work on the One hundred roles of Ichikawa Danjuro IX in 1893. The series was completed posthumously in 1903, the year of the actor’s death and under the supervision of Fukuda Shojiro (d. 1925.) The prints in the series were sumptuously printed using expensive materials and techniques. Each image documents the actor’s most successful roles; a text or illustration appears in the upper register.”
(click on image to enlarge)
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #669 |
| Title (Description) | Ichikawa Danjūrō 市川団十郎 as Mongaku Shōnin 文覚上人 [in the play Hashi kuyō bonji no Mongaku 橋供養梵字文覚] |
| Series | One Hundred Roles of Ichikawa Danjūrō 市川団十郎演芸百番 Ichikawa Danjūrō engei hyakuban |
| Artist | Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900) |
| Signature |  |
| Seal | Toshidama 年玉印 [see above] |
| Publication Date | February 1898 (as printed in left margin 明治卅一年二月 日印刷仝月 日発行 ) |
| Publisher |  福田熊次郎 電話浪花 二九四 Fukuda Kumajirō Phone naniwa 294 |
| Carver |  |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good - full size, unbacked, two 1" diameter stains along right side of image; 1/8" diameter stain right margin; minor soiling and paper imperfections |
| Genre | ukiyo-e; yakusha-e |
| Miscellaneous | the telephone number 294 "二九四" for the publisher is printed at the bottom of the left margin |
| Format | vertical oban |
| H x W Paper | 14 5/8 x 9 7/8 in. (37.1 x 25.1 cm) |
| H x W Image | 13 x 8 5/8 in. (33 x 21.9 cm) |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print | Los Angeles County Museum of Art M.79.152.571g; Honolulu Museum of Art 26530; Waseda University Cultural Resource Database 007-1872 and 007-1826; Kyoto University of Art and Design Ukiyo-e Collection 211 |
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