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Baikō in the role of Ibara

 

 Japanese Color Woodblock Print

Baikō in the role of Ibara

(in the play Hitotsuya)

by Natori Shunsen, 1915

 

IHL Cat. #468

About This Print

One of 30 prints (including 2 cover prints and 2 frontispieces) designed by Natori Shunsen that appeared in the magazine Shin Nigao, whose purpose was to advertise the Kabuki theater and renew interest in actor prints.  This print appeared in issue #5, the last issue of the magazine published in November 1915. Pictured is the actor Onoe Baikō VI portraying the old woman Ibara in the play Hitotsuya performed at the Imperial Theater. 

An image of this collection's print was provided to the National Gallery of Australia and appears in the catalog to their 2012-2013 exhibition Stars of the Tokyo Stage.1

For more information on this short-lived magazine whose purpose was to advertise the Kabuki theater and renew interest in actor prints, see the article Shin Nigao Magazine.

1 Stars of the Tokyo Stage, Lucie Folan, et. al., National Gallery of Australia, 2012, p. 30.

The Actor in the Print - Onoe Baiko VI (1870-1934)

Source: Kabuki 21 website http://www.kabuki21.com/baiko6.php

Stage names: Onoe Baikō VI; Onoe Eizaburō V; Onoe Einosuke I

Other name: Nishikawa Einosuke

Real name: Terashima Einosuke

Onoe Baikō VI was one of the best onnagata of the Meiji, Taishō and the first years of the Shōwa eras. He costarred with stage giants like Onoe Kikugorō V, Kataoka Nizaemon XI, Matsumoto Kōshirō VII and Onoe Kikugorō VI. The duo Onoe Baikō VI-Ichimura Uzaemon XV was extremely popular.

"Baikō, following the traditions of the Onoe family, for he is the grandson of the third Kikugorō, and was adopted by the fifth, is clever in the weird, and never pleases so much as when he plays an unearthly woman, ghost, or demon. He is particularly successful as a woman of the people, but it is as a dancer that he has endeared himself to all Tokyo. The grace of his movements, the power of suggestion in his descriptive dances, fill all who witness them with admiration." (Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan")


Natori Shunsen Catalogue Raisonné Entry


Catalogue Raisonné – Ukiyoe Kabuki Gi Han Ga: Shunsen Natori
(The Skill of Natori Shunsen in Kabuki Prints),
Kushigata Municipal Shunsen Museum
Kushigata, Japan; 1991, p.95, pl. 186.

Print Details

 IHL Catalog #468
 Title (Description)
 [Onoe] Baikō [VI] in the role of Ibara [in the play Hitotsuya] 
 梅幸の茨 Baikō no Ibara 
 Series Magazine: Shin Nigao (New Portraits) volume five 新似顔　第一年五編
 Artist
 Natori Shunsen (1886-1960)
 Signature
Shunsen and 名取春仙 畫 Natori Shunsen ga printed on bottom of magazine page print was originally tipped to.

 Seal not sealed
 Date November 1915
 Edition First and only edition printed in magazine Shin Nigao
 Publisher  Nigaodō 似顔洞
 Carver and Printer Igami Bonkotsu (1875-1933)
 Impression excellent
 Colors excellent
 Condition excellent
 Miscellaneous
entry in table of contents for Issue #5 of Shin Nigao
 

帝國劇塲 Imperial Theater
十月狂言 October Kyōgen
一ツ家 Hitotsuya 
梅幸 Baikō
(茨) Ibara

 Genre shin hanga (new prints); nigao-e
 Format koban
 H x W Paper 7 1/4 x 4 5/8 in. (18.1 x 11.4 cm)
 Collections This Print The British Museum 1991,1112,0.193.5 (entire magazine, only front cover shown); Art Research Center Ritsumeikan University BM-SJ193-05  (British Museum's copy of entire magazine with all pages shown)
 Reference LiteratureCatalogue Raisonné – Ukiyoe Kabuki Gi Han Ga: Shunsen Natori (TheSkill of Natori Shunsen in Kabuki Prints), Kushigata Municipal ShunsenMuseum, Kushigata, Japan, 1991, p.95 number 186; Stars of the Tokyo Stage, Lucie Folan, et. al., National Gallery of Australia, 2012, p. 30.
last revision:
7/29/2020
11/18/2018