THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR TAKAGI (Utagawa Kuniyoshi)

N.1 diptych of ukiyo-e woodblock prints
Year: 1848
Condition: signs of aging
Size: 50,5 x 36 cm

SOLD

Description

Compelling diptych of original woodblock prints of the yakusha-e (役者絵) type, that is “actor images”, made by the artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) and depicting a scene from the “Chronicle of the Way of the Warrior Takagi Oriemon” (高木織右武実録), a play performed in August 1848 at the kabuki theater Nakamura-za (中村座) in Edo (江戸).

The warrior Yokoyama Daizo (横山大蔵), played on the left by the actor Seki Sanjuro III (三代目関三十郎), the warrior Otaka Tonomo (大高主殿), played on the right by Nakamura Utaemon IV (四代目中村歌右衛門) covered in the blood of a victim of suicide whom he has assisted and, in the center, Nakamura Tsuruzo I (初代中村鶴蔵) in the role of the fisherman Ryoshi Ganzo (猟師鴈蔵), argue over a scroll depicting the monk Daruma (達磨).

The precious prints on Japanese washi paper (和紙), produced by the publisher Sanoya Kihei (佐野屋喜兵衛), owner of Kikakudo (喜鶴堂), despite the obvious signs of aging and some wormholes, are in overall fair condition.