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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: The actors Nakamura Nakazo I and Ichikawa Komazo I in the dance scene 'Shakkyo' (The Stone Bridge), from the play Ima o Sakari Suehiro Genji (The Genji Clan Now at Its Zenith) Title Type: preferred View: Full View Creation Start Date: 1768 Creation End Date: 1768 Creation Date: Performed at the Nakamura Theater from the first day of the eleventh month, 1768 Creation Place: Asia,East Asia,Japan Object Type: Prints Classification Term: Woodblock Materials and Techniques: Woodblock print. Dimensions: Hosoban; 29.9 x 14.0 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: 1939.673 Credit Line: The Art Institute of Chicago, Frederick W. Gookin Collection Rights: http://www.artic.edu/aic/rights/main.rights.html Context: Shakkyo (The Stone Bridge) is an ancient Buddhist fable telling of Priest Jakusho's pilgrimage to Mt. Wutai (J: Godai) in Shanxi Province, China. This site, one of the chief holy places of East Asian Buddhism and a magnet for Japanese pilgrim-monks, was associated with the paradise of the bodhisattva Manjusri (J: Monju).At a stone bridge crossing a deep ravine on the slopes of the holy mountain, Jakusho is greeted by a shishi, a kind of mythical lion, auspicious messenger of the bodhisattva, who frolics and dances among blooming peonies. A version of the story appears in Konjaku Monogatari, an early twelfth-century collection of tales, and is also the theme of several medieval No plays. Colorful Kabuki adaptions of what is essentially a 'lion dance' were popular from the seventeenth century onward.In the mid-eighteenth century it became customary to conclude a day's Kabuki performance with a dance sequence accompanied by onstage musicians (Joruri shosagoto); this served particularly as a vehicle to display the dancing skills of leading female impersonators (onnagata) such as Segawa Kikunojo I and Nakamura Tomijuro I. Kikunojo I, in particular, was a great success in Shakkyo, the lion dance, and Sagi Musume, the white heron dance. The next development was to include one of the male leads as a foil to the onnagata dancer, an innovation that may well have been introduced by Nakazo I, who was himself a fine dancer.We know from Kabuki Nempyo that in this 1768 performance the onnagata dancer was to have beenSegawa Kikunojo II (as Reizei), whose predecessor, Kikunojo I, had specialized in the role, and that Nakazo I (as Mikuni no Kuro) was to have appeared with him. As lions, the two were supposed to fight over the White Banner of the War God Hachiman (tutelary deity of the Genji clan) that Reizei had received from Suruga no Hachiro (played by Komazo I). For the first four days of the run, however, Kikunojo II was indisposed and Komazo I had to substitute for him in the dance. This must have given rise to some inconsistencies in the plot, doubtless papered over by last-minute changes in action or dialogue. Presumably the print publisher was warned in time of Kikunojo II's illness, for Shunsho's design records Komazo I in the part. At present no print is known showing Kikunojo II in the lion dance of this production.Komazo I and Nakazo I are caught in a powerful 'dramatic pose' (mie), disputing possession of the White Banner. Komazo I brandishes his peony stem as a weapon, and Nakazo I has his branch clenched, lion-like, between his teeth. The carved lion masks worn on their heads- which were actually adapted from hand puppets- seem incongruously small.Nakazo I's kimono and the background of the print are both faded, the former from a darker and the latter from a lighter shade of indigo blue. AMICA ID: AIC_.1939.673 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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