About This Print
One of 261 prints from the series Nōgakuzue (Illustrations of Noh). The print depicts a scene from the Noh play Higaki, attributed to the playwright Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443), in which the old woman Higaki tells of her early life to a priest. For other depictions of this play by the artist see IHL Cat. #728 and IHL Cat. #1941.
For background on the Noh theater see the article on this site "Noh - A Brief Summary by Beata Kubiak Ho-Chi".
Act 1: Waki - a priest
Shite - an old woman
Kyōgen - a local person
Act 2: Nochi-shite - the woman Higaki
A priest living in the mountains sees a very old woman come every day to draw water. Questioning her, he learns that she is the woman Higaki who long ago composed a poem on being asked for water by Fujiwara no Okinori. After asking for his prayers, the woman disappears. When she returns later, she tells the priest of her early life and performs a dance as she recalls the time when she danced for Okinori.
Right Margin Description of Scene
click on image for detail
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #996 |
| Title | Higaki 檜垣 |
| Series | Nōgakuzue 能樂圖繪 (Illustrations of Noh) |
| Artist | Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927) |
| Signature | Kōgyo 耕漁 |
| Seal |  |
| Date | This collection's print is dated Meiji 30, 1897, as follows: 明治三十年十一月一日印刷 Date of Printing: November 1, 1897 (Meiji 30) Date of Issuance: trimmed from this print, but likely November 5, 1897 The ARC database entry gives the dates of printing and issuance for their print arcUP0867 as follows: 明治三十四年四月一日印刷 仝年仝月五日発行 Printed on April 1, 1901 Issued on April 5, 1901 |
| Edition | unknown (At least two editions exist, the ARC Ritsumeikan print being a later edition. See "Date" above.) |
| Publisher | Matsuki Heikichi (Daikokuya Heikichi 大黒屋平) [Marks: pub. ref. 029] 日本橋区吉川町二番地 松木平吉 (in left margin) followed by partially trimmed Daikokuya seal. |
| Carver | |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good - light album backing; small wormhole top center margin repaired from back; wrinkling along left 1/3 of print caused by backing paper |
| Genre | ukiyo-e |
| Miscellaneous | silver and gold metallic highlights on robes |
| Format | oban yoko-e |
| H x W Paper | 9 5/8 x 14 1/4 in. (24.4 x 36.2 cm) |
| H x W Image | 9 x 13 1/8 in. (22.9 x 33.3 cm) area within printed black border |
| Collections This Print | Art Institute of Chicago 1939.2258.6; Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University arcUP0867; University of Pittsburgh 20091209-kogyo-0187; The Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum of Waseda University 201-4973 |
last updated:
4/29/2019
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