• Nakayama Tomisaburō I standing next to Matsumoto Koshirō V in the checkered robe, Ichikawa Danjurō VII in makeup and Onoe Eizaburō I seated and holding a scroll - this is the left panel of a triptych entitled <i>Edo shibai sangai no zu</i> ('The 3rd Floor of an Edo Theater' - 江戸芝居三階之図)
    Lyon Collection - left panel
Nakayama Tomisaburō I standing next to Matsumoto Koshirō V in the checkered robe, Ichikawa Danjurō VII in makeup and Onoe Eizaburō I seated and holding a scroll - this is the left panel of a triptych entitled <i>Edo shibai sangai no zu</i> ('The 3rd Floor of an Edo Theater' - 江戸芝居三階之図)
Nakayama Tomisaburō I standing next to Matsumoto Koshirō V in the checkered robe, Ichikawa Danjurō VII in makeup and Onoe Eizaburō I seated and holding a scroll - this is the left panel of a triptych entitled <i>Edo shibai sangai no zu</i> ('The 3rd Floor of an Edo Theater' - 江戸芝居三階之図)
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Utagawa Toyokuni I (初代歌川豊国) (artist 1769 – 02/24/1825)

Nakayama Tomisaburō I standing next to Matsumoto Koshirō V in the checkered robe, Ichikawa Danjurō VII in makeup and Onoe Eizaburō I seated and holding a scroll - this is the left panel of a triptych entitled Edo shibai sangai no zu ('The 3rd Floor of an Edo Theater' - 江戸芝居三階之図)

Print

ca 1802 – 1803
9 in x 14.25 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Toyokuni ga (豊国画) - the 'ga' character is partial
Publisher: According to Marks 328, seal 16-011 is Mikawaya Seiemon, elsewhere it is Shimizu - trimmed
Censor's seal: kiwame
British Museum - all three panels
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - middle and left panel only
Waseda University
Tobacco and Salt Museum - full triptych A curator at the British Museum wrote: "The scene is imaginary since these actors did not appear together at the same theatre during this time. The style of the artist’s signature supports this date range." This print is the left-hand panel of the triptych. The center panel features Bandō Mitsugorō III, Iwai Kumesaburō and Arashi Kanjūrō. The right-hand panel has Sawamura Sōjūrō III, Sawamura Tōzō and Ichikawa Omezō.

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Ichikawa Danjurō VII's robes show both of his crests: the peony and the mimasu.

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There is another copy of the full triptych in the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. It was included in a gift from the Grabhorns. See below. We have also read of a reference to a copy in the Tokyo National Museum, but we have been unable to locate it as yet.

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Illustrated:

1) the full triptych in color in The Printer's Eye: Ukiyo-e from the Grabhorn Collection, editors Laura Allen and Melissa Rinne, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 2013, #119, p. 139, text on page 185.

2) the full triptych in black and white in Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collection 2: British Museum II, Kodansha, 1988, on page 289.
Mikawaya Seiemon (三河屋清右衛門) (publisher)
Nakayama Tomisaburō I (初代中山富三郎) (actor)
Matsumoto Kōshirō V (五代目松本幸四郎: 11/1801 to 5/1838) (actor)
Onoe Eizaburō I (初代目尾上栄三郎: from 11/1788 to 10/1809) (actor)
Ichikawa Danjūrō VII (七代目市川團十郎: 11/1800 to 2/1832) (actor)
mitate-e (見立て絵) (genre)