Detail View: The AMICA Library: The actor Nakamura Nakazo I as Yamaoka no Saburo in 'Momiji Kumo Nishiki no Tsuri Yogi', (Maple Clouds: A Brocade of Coverlets Hung Up), act three of the play Kausara Hanasakae Hachi no Ki (The EverBlooming Potted Tree)
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AMICA ID:
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AIC_.1925.2532
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AMICA Library Year:
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1998
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Object Type:
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Prints
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Creator Name:
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Ippitsusai Buncho
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Creator Nationality:
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Asian; Far East Asian; Japanese
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Creator Dates/Places:
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Japanese; fl. c.1755-1790 Asia,East Asia,Japan
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Creator Name-CRT:
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Ippitsusai Buncho
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Title:
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The actor Nakamura Nakazo I as Yamaoka no Saburo in 'Momiji Kumo Nishiki no Tsuri Yogi', (Maple Clouds: A Brocade of Coverlets Hung Up), act three of the play Kausara Hanasakae Hachi no Ki (The EverBlooming Potted Tree)
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Title Type:
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preferred
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View:
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full view
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Creation Date:
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unknown
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Creation Start Date:
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1755
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Creation End Date:
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1790
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Materials and Techniques:
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Woodblock print.
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Classification Term:
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Woodblock
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Creation Place:
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Asia,East Asia,Japan
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Dimensions:
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Hosoban; 32.7 x 15.2 cm (untrimmed)
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AMICA Contributor:
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The Art Institute of Chicago
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Owner Location:
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Chicago, Illinois, USA
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ID Number:
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1925.2532
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Credit Line:
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The Art Institute of Chicago, The Clarence Buckingham Collection
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Inscriptions:
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SIGNATURE: Ippitsusai Buncho gaARTIST'S SEAL: Mori uji
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Rights:
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Context:
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In this print we see the stage set for a mapleviewing scene, with a striped curtain hanging from one of the trees to create a private enclosure. Several other prints by Buncho show a similar setting, and all relate to a mapleviewing dance interlude, 'Momiji Kumo Nishiki no Tsuri Yogi', performed in the third act of the play Kawaranu Hanasakae Hachi no Ki. The dance, basically a duet between Ichikawa Yaozo II as the warrior Hojo Tokiyori and Segawa Kikunojo II as the courtesan Tamagiku, with onstage musical accompaniment by the chanter Tokiwazu Moji-tayu, is depicted in another hosoban print by Buncho (see 'The Actor's Image' catalogue, fig. 8. 1, p.64). Nakazo I played what appears to have been a supporting role as the servant Yamaoka no Saburo. Theatrical records describe his costume as a 'stiff white hunting cloak and court hat' (sh1rahari eboshi); an illustration in an actor critique (yakusha hyobanki) of the following year shows Nakazo I, seated with a wooden pail, wearing thiscostume (see 'The Actor's Image' catalogue, fig. 8.2, p.64). The libretto for the play has not survived, so it is difficult to say exactly why Nakazo I is brandishing a demon mask in the air. We do know, however, that this demon mask was a Hojo family treasure which Tamagiku was trying to steal. A similar combination of themes - mapl-viewing party, beautiful women, and demons - occurs in the famous No play Momiji-gari (Maple Viewing), and this new Kabuki dance interlude of 1769 was probably a creative reinterpretation of that ancient drama.Since Nakazo I was much in demand for his remarkably sinister interpretations of villainous roles, it is likely that Yamaoka no Saburo was an evil character.As in so many eighteenth-century prints, the fugitive indigo blue pigment - used herein the sky and in the stripes of the curtain - has changed to a dull sand color.
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Related Image Identifier Link:
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AIC_.E19728.TIF
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