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Actor Tojaku (Iwai Kumesaburô I / Iwai Hanshirô V), from the series Actors for the Seven Komachi (Yakusha Nana Komachi)


「役者七小町 杜若」 初代岩井粂三郎、五代目岩井半四郎
Utagawa Kunimitsu I (Japanese, active 1800s–early 1830s)
Publisher: Kawajû (Japanese)
Japanese
Edo period
about 1800s

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical ôban; 36.8 x 24.9 cm (14 1/2 x 9 13/16 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.25896
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

DescriptionIwai Kumesaburô I changed his name to Iwai Hanshirô V in 1804.11; it is not clear whether this print was made before or after that date. In 1832.11 he took his poetry name as his official stage name and became Iwai Tojaku I.
Signed Toyokuni monjin Kunimitsu ga
Marks Censor's seal: kiwame
改印:極
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.