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Two Saruwaka Performers (Ninin saruwaka)


「二人さるわか」
Takashima Chiharu (Japanese, 1777–1859)
Japanese
Edo period

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Uchiwa-e on horizontal aiban sheet; 22 x 29.7 cm (8 11/16 x 11 11/16 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.20464
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

DescriptionSaruwaka was a term for comic actors in early kabuki. The name was also used by Nakamura Kanzaburô I, the founder of the Nakamura Theater.
Signed Chiharu
千春
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.