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- An untitled print featuring Kawarasaki Gonjūrō I and Peony Flowers
An untitled print featuring Kawarasaki Gonjūrō I and Peony Flowers
Information
| Title | An untitled print featuring Kawarasaki Gonjūrō I and Peony Flowers |
| Date | 9/1860 |
| Publisher | Hayashiya Shōgorō 林屋庄五郎 |
| City | Edo |
| Signature | Toyokuni ga 豊国画 |
| Censorship seal(s) | aratame, Aap 9 改申九 |
| Publisher’s seal(s) | Shō 庄 |
| Inscription | わか木にはあれとさかりのなとり草牡丹は春の花のおや玉 桐の屋 Wakagi ni wa / are to sakari no / natori kusa / botan wa haru no / hana no oyadama Starting as just a young budding sprout, it blossoms into an awe-inspiring thicket– The peony is the king of spring flowers |
| Width | 24,7 cm |
| Height | 36,1 cm |
| Object number | SH2018-DM-016 |
| Credit Line | Collection Japan Museum SieboldHuis, gift of Muck and Mieke Douma, 2018 |
Description
This print is from a set of three portraits of actors paired with flowers. Here Kawarasaki Gonjūrō I is paired with peony flowers. The other two prints are of Nakamura Fusuke I with a plum blossom and Sawamura Tanosuke III with chrysanthemums. The prints are characterized by poems that relate to the paired flower, inscribed within cartouches in the shape of the actors’ personal crests.
Gonjūrō I is not portraying any particular role here, but he is depicted wearing casual clothing while holding a tobacco pipe. A silhouette of a stone lantern (ishi-dōro) can be seen on his right side. The dark leaves of the peony are printed with a shiny black pigment, and Gonjūrō I’s towel is printed with a slight relief pattern (karazuri).
