Biography
Toyohara Chikayoshi 豊原周義 (fl. 1870s-1880s)Source: Time Present and Time Past: Images of a Forgotten Master: Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900), by Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing, 1999, p. 30-31.
"A lesser-known, but noteworthy, Kunichika student was Toyohara Chikayoshi (Suzuki Sato 鈴木 さと; n.d.), a woman artist and reportedly Kunichika’s partner in later life. She designed prints of manners and customs (fuzokuga), pictures of toys (omocha-e) and competent actor portraits which are deeply grounded in the Utagawa style. Her 1878 diptych [a trick print or komochi-e and, perhaps the print she is best known for] featuring Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and Nakamura Sōjūrō [shown below] depicts a scene from the famous play The treasury of loyal retainers (Kanadehon Chushingura).""It is probable that Chikayoshi died sometime before 1900 and the writer of the Yomiuri article of 1900 states that Chikashige had also died, leaving Chikanobu."1
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Toyohara Chikayoshi, Kanadehon Chushingura, act. 4., 1878
Chiba City Museum of Art 1565 and 1566
The actors heads are each composed of five different overlaid images. The two uppermost depict the actors
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and Nakamura Sōjūrō I as Hangan and Yuranosuke respectively, whilst the underlying
portraits illustrate other actors in the same roles.2
1 The reference is to the article "Ko Toyohara Kunichika no seikō" written by a staff reporting appearing in the Yomiuri shinbun on July 20, 1900.Chiba City Museum of Art 1565 and 1566
The actors heads are each composed of five different overlaid images. The two uppermost depict the actors
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and Nakamura Sōjūrō I as Hangan and Yuranosuke respectively, whilst the underlying
portraits illustrate other actors in the same roles.2
2 Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900), by Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing, 1999, p. 153.
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