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Rat (Ne): Actors Jitsukawa Enzaburô I as Matsuzen Tetsunosuke (R) and Arashi Kichisaburô III as Nikki Danjô (L), in Okuni Kabuki, from the series Twelve Signs of the Zodiac (Jûnishi no uchi)


「阿国かぶき」 「拾二支之内 子」 「松前鉄之助 実川延三郎」(初代)  「仁木弾正 嵐吉三郎」(三代目)
Isshusai Kunikazu (Japanese, active about 1848–1868)
Japanese
Edo period
1859 (Ansei 6), 1st month

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical chûban diptych; 25.3 x 37 cm (9 15/16 x 14 9/16 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.37055a-b
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

Catalogue Raisonné Kitagawa, "Bosuton bijutsukan shozô Kamigata-e mokuroku" (Kansai daigaku, 2007), p. 111
DescriptionMFA impressions: 11.37055a-b (with signature in metallic pigment), 2016.1324 (no signature)

Play: Keisei Okuni Kabuki
Theater: Naka
けいせい阿国歌舞伎(けいせいおくにかぶき)

Signed Kunikazu (on each sheet)
国員
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850–d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 19, 2005)

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.