Object data
nishikie, with tsuyazuri
height 200 mm × width 182 mm
Utagawa Toyokuni (I)
The Kabuki Actor Ichikawa Danjûrô III
Japan, Japan, 1825
Provenance
…; purchased from the dealer Hasegawa, Japan, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1992;1 by whom donated to the museum, 1995
Object number: RP-P-1995-293
Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse
Copyright: Public domain
Context
For general notes on the series, see RP-P-1995-292.
The artist
Utagawa Toyokuni (1769-1825) was a pupil of Utagawa Toyoharu, who first aspired to a career as a designer of prints of beautiful women, bijinga, and then focused on the world of kabuki theatre. He was one of the very few 18th-century designers who enjoyed success well into the next century.
Entry
The Actor Ichikawa Danjuro III as a wandering priest, komuso, holding a wicker hat, a black bag for collecting alms over his shoulder.
Danjuro III, known as Masugoro, Approved by Sansho VII, Sandaime Masugoro Danjuro - kiwame shichidaime Sansho, with seal: Yau, from un untitled series on The Danjuro Family Tradition of Kabuki Actors.
Ichikawa Danjuro III (1721-42), the adopted son of Ichikawa Danjuro II and the true son of Mimasuya Sukejuro, first acted under the name Ichikawa Masugoro. He acted under the name Danjuro from XI/1735 until his death in II/1742, aged only 22.
The reprint edition with various modifications is in the collection of the National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden (1353-1448).
One poem by Kyokutei Chinjin [the famous novelist Takizawa Kyokutei Bakin (1767-1848), author of numerous bestsellers in the early 19th century].2 The poem is preceded by the note ‘Praising the portrait of Ichikawa III Mimasu’, Sansei Ichikawa Mimasu no zo, and refers to the actor’s premature death at the age of 22:
Though destined to follow his parents in fame, the young bamboo shoot is counted as number three by those who only know his name.
Issued by the Danjuro Fan Club
Signature reading: the late ko Toyokuni hitsu
Literature
M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 520
Citation
M. Forrer, 2013, 'Utagawa (I) Toyokuni, The Kabuki Actor Ichikawa Danjûrô III, Japan, 1825', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.318709
(accessed 27 November 2024 03:22:25).