• Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) as the thief Hotei no Oichi  (布袋のお市) - left panel of a triptych
Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) as the thief Hotei no Oichi  (布袋のお市) - left panel of a triptych
Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) as the thief Hotei no Oichi  (布袋のお市) - left panel of a triptych

Utagawa Kuniyasu (歌川国安) (artist 1794 – 1832)

Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) as the thief Hotei no Oichi (布袋のお市) - left panel of a triptych

Print


01/1820
9.5 in x 15.25 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Kuniyasu ga (国安画)
Publisher: Ōmiya Heihachi (Marks 413 - seal 01-108)
Censor's seal: kiwame
Waseda University
Art Institute of Chicago - 5 Shunshō prints from 1792
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - Shun'ei - Hotei no Oichi from 1792
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - Shun'ei - five panels from 1792
Hankyu Culture Foundation On New Year's 1792 a new play loosely based on the Soga brothers theme debuted in Edo. It appears to have caught the imagination of its audience and many artists over the next few decades. Sadly, we don't know what the exact subject was, but we do know the name, Waka Murasaki Edokko Soga or 'Pale Purple Soga, Edo Style' (若紫江戸子曽我).

Visually one of the most appealing elements was the inclusion of a group of onnagata as the female counterparts to the so-called '5 chivalrous men'. Above are a number of links which correspond to this print in the Lyon Collection, but are from different years and different artists.

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This is the left-hand panel of a tripych

Kabuki21 reports that Hotei no Oichi is one of five aliases of the female thief Hanaoka.

The Segawa Kikunojō crest of a bundle of silk floss, the yuiwata (結綿紋), is prominently displayed in two areas at the bottom of the actor's robes. On the purple robe it is left in reserve while on the black one it is printed in yellow as if it were golden.

The scabbard of the sword is decorated in what the Chinese called the 'cracked ice' motif.
Ōmiya Heihachi (近江屋平八) (publisher)
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)
Soga brothers (曾我兄弟) (genre)