Toyokawa Tamikuni (豊川多美國) (artist )
Onoe Fujaku III (尾上芙雀) as Akizuka Narutonosuke (萩塚鳴戸之助) in Momochidori naruto no Shiranami (百千鳥鳴門白浪)
1826
10 in x 14.75 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese color woodblock print
Signed: Kōgadō Tamikuni
好画堂多美国
Artist's seal: Tamikuni
This print commemorates a performance at the Onishi theater in the 7th month of 1826.
****
"Onoe Fujaku was one of the middle-theater actors who appears with some regularity among the prints of the Jūkōdō circle. This unusually rich portrait employs all of the luxury printing techniques: the figure stands against a wood-grained ground of a brass pigment, and his detailed robes and equipment are enriched with the most expensive color, silver and brass pigments, embossing, and mother of pearl. The date and role are inscribed down the sides of the black frame, which also includes the actor's sparrow crest."
Illustrated in color in and quoted from Osaka Prints by Dean J. Schwaab, Rizzoli, 1989, p. 117.
****
The four bird motifs in the borders of this print must be references to the chidori (千鳥) or plover of the title of the play.
****
Some sources give the name as Hagizuka Narutonosuke and not Akizuka. Both are used.
Onoe Fujaku III (三代目尾上芙雀: from 1818 or 1819 to 1/1831) (actor)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)