“ACTOR ICHIKAWA KODANJI IV AS KENKAYA GOROKICHI”
TECHNIQUE: Woodblock printed in colours
Portrait of the actor Ichikawa Kodanji IV in the role of Kenkaya Gorokichi .
From the series "Seven Flourishing Plants on Lanterns for Summer Evenings" (Suzumi Chochin Sakari No Nanakusa).
The Kabuki actor portraits in this series appear in a circular inset on the side of boldly checked paper lanterns with poem slips tied to the bottom.
The pattern on the lanterns, also called Benkei-goshi or 'Benkei-check', became popular in the Edo period following the successor the play Kanjincho and the stage costume of Benkei dressed in a mountain priest costume.
Original woodblock printed in colours on rice paper.
Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburo.
Censor's seal: Fuku (Fukushima Saburoemon) and Muramatsu (Muramatsu Genroku).
SIZE: 370mm(H) x 253(L) [oban]
Slightly worn on top of right side.
GENUINE ANTIQUE DATED 1852 - GUARANTEED OVER 170 YEARS OLD
also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III, was the most popular, prolific and commercially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th-century Japan.
In his own time, his reputation far exceeded that of his contemporaries Ukiyoe-e artists.