Comment - Portrait of a kabuki star in a night scene. A man is emerging from a hollow tree trunk. He wears a richly adorned traditinal men's suit (kimono) with a big obi and rice straw sandals, a straw raincoat hanging over his back (marked "F" in the numbered version).

The suit shows pictures of five different kites (refer to numbered consecutive version). An Owl kite (1), a Yakko kite (2), an Edo-Kaku (3), a Fan kite (4), another Edo-Kaku (5), and a Hawk kite or tonbi tako (6).

The tree trunk's upper part is decorated with tassels of rice straw (marked "E" in the numbered version). It seems to be some kind of shimenawa decoration which separates the world of the gods (kami) from the real world. Thus, the tree seems to be a kind of 'kami' or other kind of sacred shintoist place. Fine bokashi shading of the night sky in the upper background (pitch black to gray).

The red cartouche center right shows the name of the kabuki actor 'Nagoya Otōto Sanpei' (名古屋弟三平) in his role as the character 'Kawarazaki Gonjūrō' (河原崎権十郎). This print is the left panel of the triptych of the kabuki play 'Chiyo no Haru Tosa-e no Saya-ate' ('鶴春土佐画鞘当')

Series - ~


Artist - see Biography


Signature - "Toyokuni ga" ("豊国 画"), in streched oval brownish-red toshidama cartouche (Otoshidama-in, 年玉印), lower center left side (marked "D" in the numbered version)


Publisher - Tsutaya Kichizo (蔦屋吉蔵) with his Tsutakichi seal (蔦吉)


Image Size - 34.9 X 23.2 cm (13 3/4" x 9 1/8")


Condition - single panel; nishiki-e (cloured woodblock); Vertical ôban (ôban tate-e);