Accession Number
2000/2.286

Title
Onoe Kikujirô II as Mondo's Wife, Oyasu; from Sumidagawa tsui no kagamon

Artist(s)
Utagawa Kunisada

Artist Nationality
Japanese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1852

Medium & Support
color woodblock print on paper

Dimensions
14 5/16 in. x 9 3/4 in. ( 36.3 cm x 24.8 cm )

Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Barrows

Label copy
This print is the left image in a triptych depicting actors in the kabuki play "Sumidagawa Tsui no Kagamon," which was performed at the Nakamuraza Theater in Edo (modern Tokyo) in the intercalary 2nd month of 1852. The central print (not shown) is of the actor Sawamura Chôjûrô V in the role of Suzuki Mondo, and the far right print depicts Bandô Shûka I (also not shown) as Hashimotoya Shiraito. The prints is dated to the Third Month of 1852 by the censors seals.
For an image of the Bandô Shûka print, see http://www.kabuki21.com/shuka1_gf7.php.
This print is somewhat yellowed with age.

Subject matter
Actor Onoe Kikujirō II was born in 1814 in Osaka.  He held the name Kikujirō from 1835 until 1856.  He was one of the most famous onnagata (“female role” or “female form”) actors of the 1850s and 60s.  He was most well known for his roles as a wife in contemporary plays.  He died in 1875.

Physical Description
In this print, a woman in a patterned blue robe with white seals holds a black sash in both hands.  She looks over her left shoulder.  Behind her, a white and blue cloth is tied to the lattice on a wall.  A cylindrical lantern sits on the floor.
 
Inscriptions: Artist’s signature: Toyokuni ga; Publisher’s seal: Akasaka Kichi; Censor’s seals: Ne 3, Mera, Watanabe; Mondo tsuma Oyasu

Primary Object Classification
Print

Primary Object Type
color print

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Forms
Japan
ancestor figures
clothed
costumes
drapery
folding screen
interior spaces (spaces by location)
theater (discipline)
window
women (female humans)