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Tamakazura, No. 43 from the series Fifty Noh Figures in Color

 

 Japanese Color Woodblock Print

Tamakazura 玉葛 (The Jeweled Chaplet), No. 43

from the series Fifty Noh Figures in Color

by Matsuno Sōfū, 1938

Nōga taikan, Semimaru


IHL Cat. #2182

About This Print

One of fifty prints in the series Fifty Noh Figures in Color. This print depicts Lady Tamakazura performing a dance that conveys her feelings about marrying a man she detested.

For another depiction of this play see Nōgakuzue, Tamakazura by Matsuno's teacher Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927).

The Play - Tamakazura 玉葛 (The Jeweled Chaplet)

Note: "The Jeweled Chaplet" is in reference to the title of Chapter 22 of The Tale of Genji in which Genji composes a poem about Tamakazura referencing the "jeweled chaplet."

Source: A Guide to No, P.G. O'Neill, Hinoki Shoten, 1929, p. 183.

By Zenchiku
Fourth Group
All Noh schools

Characters:

Act 1:

Waki - a traveling priest
Shite - a village woman
Kyōgen - a local person

Act 2:
Nochi-shite - Tama-kazura no Naishi

A priest on his way to pray at the Hade-dera comes to the Hatsuse-gawa and there meets a woman who lands from a small boat. She leads him up to two cryptomaria trees and tells him that this was where Tama-kazura met the maid of her mother Yūgao when she fled from Kyūshū after refusing the attentions of a powerful warrior there. She is the spirit of Tamakzura, she adds, and then vanishes. The priest prays, and in his dream the spirit reappears to tell of her unhappiness.

The Story of Tamakazura

Source: The Walters Art Museum website art.thewalters.org/detail/16335/nogaku-zue-8/
Lady Tamakazura is a character from the 11th-century novel "The Tale of Genji." Born the illegitimate daughter of Genji's best friend and left homeless at a young age, she was raised by a nurse in the provinces. On her return to the capital, Genji appeared to play the role of protective father. He was, in fact, secretly in love with the girl and made unwelcome advances. To escape her predicament, Tamakazura married a man she detested. 

The Series - Fifty Noh Figures in Color
Each print in the series depicts a main character from a Noh play and is tipped to the top edge of a solid-colored woodblock-printed backing sheet featuring the three small pines appearing along the higashigakari  橋掛 (bridgeway) stretching from the main stage to the kagami-no-ma (mirror room) where the performers gather before going on stage. The trees are printed with a dark gold metallic pigment, a deluxe printing technique.

 一 

No. 1
Okina


高砂
No. 2
Takasago
 三
田村
No. 3
Tamura

羽衣
No. 4
Hagoromo
 五
鞍馬天狗
No. 5
Kurama tengu

竹生島
No. 6
Chikubushima

景淸
No. 7
Kagekiyo

態野
No. 8
Yuya
通小町
No. 9
Kayo Komachi
鵜飼
No. 10
Ukai
十一
玉井
No. 11
Tamanoi
十二
俊寬
No. 12
Shunkan
 
卒都婆小
No. 13
Sotoba
Komachi
十四
鐵輪
No. 14
Kanawa

船辨慶
No. 15
Funda Benkei
十六
養老
No. 16
Yōrō
十七
賴政
No. 17
Yorimasa
十八
遊行柳
No. 18
Yugyō yanagi
 十九
石橋
No. 19
Shakkyō
 二〇
石橋
No. 20
Shakkyō
二一
張良
No. 21
Chōryō

二二
蟬丸
No. 22
Semimaru

二三
姨捨
No. 23
Obasute

二四
安達原
 
No. 24
Adachi ga
hara
 二五
調伏會我
No. 25
Chōbuku Soga
 二六
延命冠者
No. 26
Enmei kanja
 二七

No. 27
Ebira
二八
胡蝶
No. 28
Kochō
二九
求塚
No. 29
Motomezuka
 三〇
雷電
No. 30
Raiden
三一
難波
 
No. 31
Naniwa

三二
花月
No. 32
Kagetsu
三三
葵上
No. 33
Aoi no ue

 三四
弱法帥
No. 34
Yoroboshi

 三五
殺生石
No. 35
Sesshōseki
三六
鍾馗
No. 36
Shōki
 三七
經政
No. 37
Tsunemasa
 三八
道成寺
No. 38
Dōjōji
三九
藤戶
No. 39
Fujito
 四〇

No. 40
Nue
 四一
項羽
No. 41
Kōu

 四二

No. 42
Tōru

 四三
玉葛
No. 43
Tamakazura
 四四
山姥
No. 44
Yamanba

四五
土蜘蛛
No. 45
Tsuchigomo

四六
金札
No. 46
Kinsatsu
四七
熊坂
No. 47 Kumasaka
四八
三井寺 
No. 48
Miidera
四九
一角仙人
No. 49
Ikkaku Sennin
五〇
猩々
No. 50
Shōjō 


Print Details

 IHL Catalog #2182
 Title  Tamakazura 玉葛
 Series Fifty Noh Figures in Color
 能姿五十彩 
 Artist 
 Matsuno Sōfū (1899-1963)
 Signature 
 奏 Sō
 Seal
 unread, but likely Sō 奏 seal (see above)
 Date June 1938
 Edition first and only
 Publisher 謡曲界発行所 Yōkyoku-kai hakkōsho [Noh song publishing house]
 Carver unknown
 Printer unknown
 Impression excellent
 Colors excellent
 Condition excellent
 Genre nishiki-e; nōgaku zue 能樂圖繪 [Noh play picture] or 能絵 [Noh-e]
 Miscellaneous  
 Format oban
 H x W Paper print: 7 15/16 x 5 5/8 in. (20.2 x 14.6 cm)
 backing sheet: 12 1/8 x 9 5/16 in. (30.8 x 23.7)
 H x W Image print: 7 7/8 x 5 7/16 in. (20 x 13.8 cm)
 Collections This Print Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University AcNo. arcUP2639
 Reference Literature 
last update:
11/15/2019 created