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楽屋姿の七代目市川団十郎
Actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VII also practiced poetry and calligraphy. He is shown here with a writing box, preparing to inscribe a fan with poetry. The objects in the room are emblazoned with his various crests—both his family’s “three boxes” and the peony, his personal crest. The accompanying poems make puns on the homonyms “mirror-stand” and “brothers,” referring to his popular role as one of the Soga brothers, which he performed nearly every spring during the 1820s.
Actor Ichikawa Danjûrô VII in His Dressing Room
楽屋姿の七代目市川団十郎
Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786–1864)
Japanese
Edo period
mid–1820s
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Shikishiban; 21.2 x 18.6 cm (8 3/8 x 7 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.25972
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
Actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VII also practiced poetry and calligraphy. He is shown here with a writing box, preparing to inscribe a fan with poetry. The objects in the room are emblazoned with his various crests—both his family’s “three boxes” and the peony, his personal crest. The accompanying poems make puns on the homonyms “mirror-stand” and “brothers,” referring to his popular role as one of the Soga brothers, which he performed nearly every spring during the 1820s.
Catalogue Raisonné
Izzard, Kunisada's World (1993), #47; Keyes, Art of Surimono (Chester Beatty cat., 1985), vol. 1, #241; Rijksmuseum cat. IV, Hiroshige and the Utagawa School (1984), #126
DescriptionPoems translated in Izzard 1993, p. 111; and Keyes 1985, vol. 1, p. 274.
Signed
Gototei Kunisada ga
五渡亭国貞画
五渡亭国貞画
InscriptionsPoem by Kaôen Tokunari: Tokimune o/ suru Naritaya ga/ ani to yobu/ ume to hitotsu ni/ hiraku kyôdai
Poem by Shibaen Morizuna: Kyôdai no/ hiraku katae ni/ mata hiraku/ ôgi no shime o/ chirasu harukaze
「花わ園徳来 時字をする成田やか兄とよぶ梅とひとつにひらく鏡台」「司馬園盛砂 鏡台をひらくかたへにまたひらくあふきのしめをしらす春風」
Poem by Shibaen Morizuna: Kyôdai no/ hiraku katae ni/ mata hiraku/ ôgi no shime o/ chirasu harukaze
「花わ園徳来 時字をする成田やか兄とよぶ梅とひとつにひらく鏡台」「司馬園盛砂 鏡台をひらくかたへにまたひらくあふきのしめをしらす春風」
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.
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.