Accession Number
1983/2.89

Title
A Modern 'The Water Margin': Seki Sanjūrō III as Tsuchiura Inaji

Artist(s)
Utagawa Kunisada

Artist Nationality
Japanese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1862

Medium & Support
woodblock print on paper

Dimensions
17 13/16 in x 13 1/16 in (45.2 cm x 33.2 cm);17 13/16 in x 13 1/16 in (45.2 cm x 33.2 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Sarah and Otto Graf.

Subject matter
Actor Seki Sanjūrō III was born in 1805 and began acting in the late 1810s. He died in 1871.

The Water Margin, also called Outlaws of the Marsh is a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) novel.  It is based on the activities of the twelfth century leader Song Jiang and his band of outlaws.  The novel was originally based on legends from the 12-13th centuries and later Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) plays.  It has been adapted into several formats in Japan.
 

Physical Description
This is a portrait of a man scowling.  He wears a blue plaid coat over a blue and white striped robe and carries an umbrella.  The lower half of the background is light blue, and the upper half is white.  There are lines of calligraphy across the top.

Inscriptions: Kinsei suikōden; Tsuchiura Inaji, Seki Sanjūrō; Toyokuni ga (Artist's signature); inu 11, aratame (Censor's seal)

 

Primary Object Classification
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
kimonos
men (male humans)
theater (discipline)
umbrella
umbrellas