TOYOKUNI-III (KUNISADA)

(1786 - 1864)

'Kite Flying Triptych'
(descriptive title)

TOYOKUNI-III
(KUNISADA), Kite Flying Triptych

'Kite Flying Triptych'
(individual titles of all panels, see below)

Series: "Flowers of Edo and Views of Famous Places"
("江戸廼花名勝会ま語番組", "Edo no hana meishô-e")

1863

Comment - This triptych is from the series "Flowers of Edo" and features kite-flying themes. A kite string is running continuously across all three panels to connect to the yakko-dako or man kite ("yakko dako", "奴凧") at right panel, upper right. At the left panel, a young boy holds the end of the kite string, while the image to his right shows a street musician knocked on the head by a falling Edo kite ("Edo-tako", "江戸凧") with an image of Okame, the goddess of mirth. The person behind the boy, holding the boy's kite line spool, seems to be a picture on a large blue Edo kite in the background. The A large Edo kite with a Daruma picture, flies in the left panel upper cassette, next to the fire brigade coat-of-arms (Shi Brigade, Fifth Group, Imai; see left panel, upper left cassette). Next to the Daruma kite, a smaller yakko-dako and a bird-of-prey kite ("tonbi dako", "鳶凧") are to be seen. In the center panel, a man goes flying up into the sky along with a bird kite, loosing his head wear, the broken string fluttering in the air, while at bottom two men rush forward, alarmed by his flight. At right, the yakko-dako kite floats above a landscape, the yakko detailed with burnishing in the black kimono and socks. Note that the yakko-dako is tied with a black rope (stick) on his back to the upper selvage, making it a real stage play scene.

The panels are interconnected, not only by the theme (Fire Brigades) and the Yakko kite string, running over all three panels, but also by each of their own stories. The large Yakko kite on the left panel also belongs to an episode of Bakin's stories (Bakin chojutsu, 馬琴著述) named "A Soldier's Dream Story" ("Musō hyōe kochō monogatari", "夢想兵衛胡蝶物語"). It is connected to the the bird-of-prey kite ("tonbi dako", "鳶凧") at the adjoining central panel. Two woodblocks depicting this story are to be seen by another print of Kunisada himself ("Dream of a Palace Guardsman") and Chikanobu ("Man Riding a Kite"). Nevertheless, all individual panels also contain stories of their own.

Left panel - Forms the left sheet of a triptych of kite-flying themes, with a continuous kite string.

Title -
Shi Brigade, Fifth Group, Imai: Actor Ichikawa Kuzô III as Imai Shirô Kanehira
("今井: 今井四郎兼平市川九蔵 - 三代目", "Imai: Imai shirōkanehira Ichikawa Kuzō - sandaime")
Coat-of-arms of the fire brigade on upper left cassette

Kites -

(top cartouche) Yakko kite; Edo kite with large Daruma face; small bird-of-prey kite

(lower cartouche, left) large blue Edo kite ("Edo-tako", "江戸凧") with kanji characters (Kanji kite, "ji tako", "字凧"), and a man in black, holdineg the kite line spool of the boy in the foreground

(lower cartouche, right) toppled down Edo kite right side with image of Okame (see above); man and boy with kite reel and kite string

Censor's Seal - Censor 12 ( I jū ni aratame, 亥十二改)

Blockcutter - Uemura Yasugorô (Hori Yasu) (上邑彫安)

Signature - TOYOKUNI-ga (豊国画), in toshidama (年玉枠) cartouche (bottom left); KIYOKUNI-ga (top); Konomi ni ôjite YOSHITOSHI-hitsu (清国画、好需よし年筆) (bottom right)

Center panel - Forms the center sheet of a triptych of kite-flying themes, with a continuous kite string.

Title -
Ma Brigade, Fifth Group, Mikawadai: Actor Ichikawa Ichizô III as Kantô Koroku
("三河台: 関東小六　市川市蔵 - 三代目","Mikawa-dai: Kantō Koroku Ichikawa Ichizō - sandaime")
Coat-of-arms of the fire brigade on lower right cassette

Kites -

(top right cartouche) man-lifting bird-of-prey kite, the lifted man toppling down, and the kiteline is broken; the connecting kiteline between all three panels has caught the headdress of the the man in blue garment of the lower left cartouche; the man in green garment laughing at the scene. This accident exactly corresponds with a scene from HIROKAGE ("No. 10, Sakuma-chô outside Kanda",Series: Comical Views of Famous Places in Edo). Artists -TOYOKUNI-III (Utagawa Kunisada), SHUNKAI, and Kawanabe KYôSAI. The center right part of this panel shows a hat, caught by the kiteline. Here KYôSAI cites his colleague HIROKAGE with a scene, published in print No. 10 of the series 'Comical Views of Famous Places in Edo'.

Censor's Seal - Censor 12 ( I jū ni aratame, 亥十二改)

Blockcutter - Katada Horichō (片田彫長)

Signature - TOYOKUNI-ga ( 豊国画), in toshidama cartouche (top left); SHUNKAI ( 春海) (top right); Seisei KYôSAI (bottom) (惺々狂斎)

Right panel - Forms the right sheet of a triptych of kite-flying themes, with a continuous kite string.

Title -
Ma Brigade, Fifth Group, Akasaka: Actor Onoe Tamizô-II as an Akasaka Yakko Kite
("赤坂: 赤坂奴凧平　尾上多見蔵 - 二代目","Akasaka: Akasaka yakkodako hira onoetamizō - nidaime")
Coat-of-arms of the fire brigade on upper left cassette

Kites -

(top cartouche) big yakko kite with the face of Kabuki Actor Onoe Tamizô-II as an Akasaka Yakko Kite

Censor's Seal - Censor 3 ( I san aratame, 亥三改)

Blockcutter - Koizumi Minokichi (Hori Mino) (彫巳の)

Signature - Toyokuni ga, in toshidama cartouche (top); Ôju Hiroshige ga (bottom) 豊国画(年玉枠)、応需広重画 (i.e. Utagawa HIROSHIGE-II /SHIGENOBU)

Series - Flowers of Edo and Views of Famous Places - Design from a series by TOYOKUNI-III pairing kabuki actors with famous areas of Edo and firemen's standards, done in collaboration with several different artists. TOYOKUNI-III created the large actor portraits, while other artists such as HIROSHIGE-II (SHIGENOBU), SADAHIDE, KUNIHISA-II, YOSHITORA, KUNISADA-II, YOSHITOSHI, and KYôSAI contributed the landscape designs and other scenes across the top. The term "Flowers of Edo" in the title here refers to fires, and each title cartouche features the standard or "matoi" and lantern of a different Edo fire brigade. The expressive portraits are beautifully detailed with fine line work and an intricate wood grain background. A beautifully printed series, with many images featuring fine shading, embossing, or touches of burnishing.

The term “flowers of Edo” (Edo no hana) can refer, among other things, to fires. The title panel for each print in this series shows the lanterns and identifying standard (matoi) for one of the brigades of firefighters (hikeshi) assigned to various districts. On the west side of the Sumida River were 48 brigades named for the symbols of the kana syllabary and grouped into 8 numbered groups (1 to 10, minus the bad-luck numbers 4 and 7). On the east side of the river, brigades were numbered and assigned to directional groups. Outlying districts were covered by special brigades, here designated “extra” (bangai). Each title gives the name or number of a brigade, its group, and its district, followed by the kabuki scene chosen to match it.

Artist - see Biography (TOYOKUNI-III)

Signature - see individual panels

Publisher - Katō-ya Iwazō (加藤屋岩蔵) Kibi-dō Publisher's (吉美堂)

Image Size - (Tryptich) 33.0 x 69.6 cm (13 1/4" x 27 1/2") + outside margins as shown

Condition - Triptych, three separate panels; woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper; all vertical ôban (tate-e);

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