• Ichikawa Dannosuke III (市川団之助) on the left, Iwai Hanshirō V (岩井半四郎) in the center, and Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) on the right - <i>onnagata</i> coming from or going to a women's bathhouse (女中湯) - 3 of 5 panels
Ichikawa Dannosuke III (市川団之助) on the left, Iwai Hanshirō V (岩井半四郎) in the center, and Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) on the right - <i>onnagata</i> coming from or going to a women's bathhouse (女中湯) - 3 of 5 panels
Ichikawa Dannosuke III (市川団之助) on the left, Iwai Hanshirō V (岩井半四郎) in the center, and Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) on the right - <i>onnagata</i> coming from or going to a women's bathhouse (女中湯) - 3 of 5 panels

Utagawa Toyokuni I (初代歌川豊国) (artist 1769 – 02/24/1825)

Ichikawa Dannosuke III (市川団之助) on the left, Iwai Hanshirō V (岩井半四郎) in the center, and Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) on the right - onnagata coming from or going to a women's bathhouse (女中湯) - 3 of 5 panels

Print


1815
28.875 in x 14.75 in (Overall dimensions) Japaneses woodblock print
Signed: Toyokuni ga (豊国画)
Publisher: Matsumura Tatsuemon
(Marks 311 - seal not in Marks)
Censor's seal: kiwame
Futakata seal: ca. 1817-18
It would appear that the far left and right prints of this composition are missing from this example in the Lyon Collection.

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Onnagata on their way to a bathhouse in the Kobikichō area of Edo. While this triptych probably does not represent a scene from a play we know that the figures are onnagata or male actors who played women's roles. We know this because of the boshi or head scarves worn which cover the top of the forehead which had been shaved on all actors. Here the two outer figures are wearing those scarves.

Even when onnagata were not on stage, but in public they were expected to stay in character. Only behind the closed screens of their own homes could they relax and be the 'man of the house', so to speak. The rules of behavior were ostensibly spelled out by Segawa Kikunojō I (1693-1749) in 'The Secret Transmissions of an onnagata'. "According to the compiler of this text, Kikunojō was in full dress on his deathbed, in accordance with the onnagata garb code."

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At the time these prints were produced the Kobikichō district housed one of the three licensed kabuki theaters of Edo, the Morita-za. In 1841-42 all three were forced to move to the Saruwaka-chō.
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Segawa Kikunojō V (五代目瀬川菊之丞: 11/1815 to 1/7/1832) (actor)
Iwai Hanshirō V (五代目岩井半四郎: 11/1804-11/1832) (actor)
Ichikawa Dannosuke III (三代目市川団之助: from 1800 to 11/1817) (actor)
Matsumura Tatsuemon (松村辰右衛門) (publisher)