About This Print
This print is one twelve small format prints created by Toyonari for the short-lived 1915 magazine Shin Nigao whose purpose was to advertise the Kabuki theater and renew interest in actor prints. This print, which appeared in the first issue of the magazine published in June 1915 pictures the actress Ritsuko Mori playing the role of Kiyoko in an unknown play at the The Imperial Theatre (帝国劇場, Teikoku Gekijō) in May 1915.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.
The Actress Ritsuko Mori (1890 - 1961)
 | Source: The Woman and the Leaven in Japan, Charlotte B DeForest, The Central Committee on the United Study of Foreign Missions, 1923, p. 143-144 "Perhaps the most popular living actress in Japan is Miss Ritsuko Mori, the first prominent example of an educated woman going on the stage. She was born in 1890, and after graduating from the Atomi Girls' School and then from the first class of the Actresses' Training School attached to the Imperial Theater in Tokyo, she further enlarged her horizon by going abroad in 1912 and studying the drama of the West. She is now one of the managing actresses of the Imperial Theater." |
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #2161 |
| Title | Ritsuko [Mori in the role of] Kiyoko 律子 (清子) (transcribed from the table of contents of issue 1) |
| Series | Magazine: Shin Nigao (New Portraits) volume 1 新似顔 第一年初編 |
| Artist | Yamamura Toyonari (1885-1942) |
| Signature |  山村耕花 氏 - Mr. Yamamura Kōka as printed in table of contents for volume 1 |
| Seal | none |
| Date | June 1915 |
| Edition | First and only edition printed in magazine Shin Nigao |
| Publisher | Nigaodō 似顔洞 |
| Carver | Igami Bonkotsu (1875-1933) |
| Printer | Nakamura Sanjirō 中村三次郎 |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good - light overall toning; removed from original mounting sheet; multiple pinholes repaired from back; left margin with some loss and discoloration and original binding holes |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Genre | shin hanga (new prints); nigao-e |
| Format | koban |
| H x W Paper | 7 1/4 x 4 13/16 in. (18.4 x 12.2 cm) |
| H x W Image | 6 9/16 x 4 3/8 in. (16.2 x 10.5 cm) |
| Collections This Print | The British Museum 1991,1112,0.193.1 (entire magazine, only front cover shown); Art Research Center Ritsumeikan University BM-SJ193-01 (British Museum's copy of entire magazine with all pages shown) |
| Reference Literature | |
8/1/2020
10/18/2019 created
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