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Gain access to this incredible resource through either a monthly or a yearly subscription and search the entire collection from your desktop, compare multiple images side by side and zoom into the minute details of the images. Visit www.davidrumsey.com/amica for more information on the collection, click on the link below the revolving thumbnail to the right, or email us at amica@luna-img.com . Creator Name: Katsukawa, Shunsho Creator Nationality: Asian; Far East Asian; Japanese Creator Role: Artist Creator Dates/Places: Japanese; 1726-1792 Asia,East Asia,Japan Creator Active Place: Asia,East Asia,Japan Creator Name-CRT: Katsukawa Shunsho Title: Memorial portrait of Ichikawa Ebizo II (Danjuro II) as a peddler of the panacea uiro Title Type: preferred View: Full View Creation Start Date: 1768 Creation End Date: 1770 Creation Date: c. 1768/70 Creation Place: Asia,East Asia,Japan Object Type: Prints Classification Term: Woodblock Materials and Techniques: Woodblock print. Dimensions: Hosoban; 31.2 x 14.2 cm Inscriptions: SIGNATURE: Shunsho gaARTIST'S SEAL Hayashi in jar-shaped outline AMICA Contributor: The Art Institute of Chicago Owner Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA ID Number: 1939.686 Credit Line: Frederick W. Gookin Collection Rights: http://www.artic.edu/aic/rights/main.rights.html Context: Ichikawa Ebizo II appears in the role of a peddler of uiro- a kind of panacea used as an expectorant, deodorant, and mouthwash (among other things). Under the weight of the large black lacquer chest that holds his wares he stands with legs braced and back bowed, scowling. His face is flat, the nose long and pointed. Clearly visible at the top of the chest is the place-name Odawara, where the medicine was made; at the bottom of the chest, nearly hidden behind the actor's left sleeve, is the word uiro. Hiskimono is colorfully decorated with the 'assorted lucky treasures' (takara-zukushi) pattern and the actor's lobster (ebi) emblem. On his sleeveless jacket is a bold design of paper streamers hanging from ropes (a Shinto emblem called shimenawa). Ebizo IIhad first created the role of urio seller in 1718 (when he still used the name Danjuro? II), scoring a great comic hit with a rush of words 'like a waterfall' advertising the miraculous powers of his cure-all.Since Ebizo II died on the twenty-fourth dayof the ninth month, 1758, and full-color prints (nishiki-e, of which this is one) only began to appear about 1765 there is no doubt that this was issued as a posthumous portrait. Probably for this reason Shunsho felt obliged to jog the memory of the fickle populace by adding the name of the actor to the print; for an actor currently in the public eye, the accuracy of the portrait was sufficient identification. Kabuki Nendaiki reproduces a portrait of Danjuro 11 as an urio seller in the first performance of the role, in 1718 (though of course these illustrations were redrawn by Katsukawa Shuntei [1770-1820] when Nendaiki was published in 1811-1815), and it is likely that Shunsho based this likeness on some such earlier portrait (see 'The Actor's Image' catalogue, fig. 37.1, p.124). Gookin (1931, see 'The Actor's Image' catalogue, p.94) mentions a surimono by Shunsho showing Ebizo II as an uiro seller (not reproduced, present location unknown), with the words ji sha ('drawn by himself') in the signature, which he suggests may have been made from life.The difficult question to answer is when the print might have been issued. The form of the signature, along with the seal composed of Hayashi in a jar-shaped outline, suggests a date between 1767 and 1770. There were memorial performances for Ebizo II in the ninth months of 1764 and 1770, the seventh and thirteenth anniversaries of his death. On neither occasion does there seem to have been a performance of the 'uiro- seller' scene, though publishers may have marked the 1770 anniversary by issuing this print of Ebizo in his most famous role. The unabbreviated form of the character ga ('drawn by') in the signature (similar to the signature on No. 30, published in the tenth month of 1768), and the generally simple style of the drawing, however, suggest a date later than 1764 and earlier than 1770 closer to 1768.The indigo blue background of the Chicago impression has faded to a pale shade of sand. AMICA ID: AIC_.1939.686 AMICA Library Year: 1998 Media Metadata Rights: Copyright The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998 AMICA PUBLIC RIGHTS: a) Access to the materials is granted for personal and non-commercial use. b) A full educational license for non-commercial use is available from Cartography Associates at www.davidrumsey.com/amica/institution_subscribe.html c) Licensed users may continue their examination of additional materials provided by Cartography Associates, and d) commercial rights are available from the rights holder. Home
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