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Ono Waterfall at Agematsu Station (Agematsu, Ono no taki): Actor Bandô Takesaburô I as Yorikaze, from the series The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidô Road (Kisokaidô rokujûkyû eki)


「木曽六十九駅 上松 小野の滝 頼風」 初代坂東竹三郎
Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786–1864)
Publisher: Sumiyoshiya Masagorô
Blockcutter: Sugawa Sennosuke (Hori Sennosuke) (Japanese)
Japanese
Edo period
1852 (Kaei 5), 11th month

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical ôban; 37.7 x 26.1 cm (14 13/16 x 10 1/4 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.17327
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

DescriptionStation 39.

The name of the waterdfall is the same as the family name of the character Ono no Yorikaze. The younger brother of Ono no Tôfû, he embarrasses his brother by an illicit affair with a court lady, for which his brother is forced to write an apology.
The real Ono no Tôfû (894-966) was one of the most famous calligraphers in Japanese history. He was said to have learned the value of persistance by watching a frog leap up repeatedly toward a hanging willow branch until it finally caught hold of the branch; Yorikaze's pose, with an umbrella in the rain, suggests that he may be watching a similar scene.

Play: Ono no Tôfû Aoyagi Suzuri
Signed Toyokuni ga, in toshidama cartouche
豊国画(年玉枠)
Marks Censors' seals: Mera, Watanabe, Rat 11, shita-uri
Blockcutter's mark: Hori Sennosuke
改印:米良、渡辺、子十一、シタ売
彫師:彫千之助
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 - d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: August 3, 1911)

NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.