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The Vengence Scene from the Play Hikosan Gongen Chikai no Sukedachi, Left [sic] Sheet of a Triptych (Hikosan Gongen chikai no sukedachi, Katakiuchi no dan, Sanmai no uchi hidari): Keyamura Rokusuke and Ichimisai's Daughter (Musume) Sono [possibly actors Sawamura Sôjûrô III and Segawa Kikunojô III]


「彦山権現誓助剣 敵討の段 三枚之内左」 「毛谷村六助」(三代目沢村宗十郎ヵ)、「一味斎娘その」(三代目瀬川菊之丞ヵ)
Katsukawa Shuntei (Shôkôsai) (Japanese, 1770–1824)
Japanese
Edo period

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical ôban; 40 x 27 cm (15 3/4 x 10 5/8 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.18061
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

DescriptionRight sheet of incomplete triptych. (When the sheets of a triptych are identified, as in this case, "left" and "right" often–but not always–mean "proper left" and "proper right," that is, right and left respectively as seen by the viewer.)

The faces of Rokusuke and Osono suggest the features of Sawamura Sôjûrô III and Segawa Kikunojô III, who played those roles at the first performance of the play in 1796. However, the style and the known dates of activity of the artist indicate a somewhat later date for this print. The play was performed again in 1802 and 1817, but with different actors.
Signed Shuntei zu
Marks No censor's seal
Unidtneified publisher's mark, not found in Marks.
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.