Ichikawa Danjūrō VII in a Shibaraku Role Confronting the Catfish Priest

1809 (Bunka 6), 11th month

Not on view

This painted and inscribed folding fan encapsulates the intersection of Kabuki and the literary salon culture surrounding kyōka (witty thirty-one-syllable poems) of early nineteenth-century Edo. A spontaneously brushed composition, it was no doubt created impromptu by a pair of artists and a pair of poets at a shogakai 書画会, or “calligraphy and painting gathering,” which were in great vogue in cities around Japan from the late eighteenth- through the late nineteenth centuries.

Artwork Details

歌川国貞・昇亭北壽筆　「暫く」
Title: Ichikawa Danjūrō VII in a Shibaraku Role Confronting the Catfish Priest
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 (Japanese, 1786–1864)
Artist: Shōtei Hokuju 昇亭北寿 (Japanese, active 1790–1820)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: 1809 (Bunka 6), 11th month
Culture: Japan
Medium: Fan painting; ink and color on waxed paper, mounted on wood staves
Dimensions: Image: 6 1/2 × 17 1/2 in. (16.5 × 44.5 cm)
Fan: 11 1/4 × 17 1/2 in. (28.6 × 44.5 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of Miki and Sebastian Izzard, 2021
Object Number: 2021.262
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Shōtei Hokuju 昇亭北寿

By Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞

From the same time and place

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Poems on Portraits of the Famous and the Infamous (Kyōka kijin gazō-shū) 狂歌奇人画像集, Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 Japanese, Polychrome Woodblock printed book; gold lacquer on red lacquer ground, Japan — Poems on Portraits of the Famous and the Infamous (Kyōka kijin gazō-shū) 狂歌奇人画像集
Multiple artists/makers
19th century

A Bedside Guide to the Colors of Love in Spring (Shunshoku neya no shiori) 春色閨の栞, Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 Japanese, Set of three woodblock printed books; ink and color on paper, Japan — A Bedside Guide to the Colors of Love in Spring (Shunshoku neya no shiori) 春色閨の栞
Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞
ca. 1850

The Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry as Kabuki Actors (Yakusha sanjūrokkasen) 役者三十六歌仙, Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 Japanese, Woodblock printed book; ink and color on paper, Japan — The Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry as Kabuki Actors (Yakusha sanjūrokkasen) 役者三十六歌仙
Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞
Totoya Hokkei 魚屋北渓
1835, first month (Tempō 6)

Love of Yatsufuji (Koi no Yatsufuji) 恋のやつふぢ, Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 Japanese, Woodblock printed book; ink and color on paper, Japan — Love of Yatsufuji (Koi no Yatsufuji) 恋のやつふぢ
Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞
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The Actor Ichikawa Ichizō III as Nozarashi Gosuke, likened to Shi Jin the Nine Dragoned (Kyūmonryū Shishin ni hisu), from the “Pine” triptych of the series A Modern Water Margin (Tōsei suikoden), Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 Japanese, Right sheet of a triptych of woodblock prints (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper, Japan — The Actor Ichikawa Ichizō III as Nozarashi Gosuke, likened to Shi Jin the Nine Dragoned (Kyūmonryū Shishin ni hisu), from the “Pine” triptych of the series A Modern Water Margin (Tōsei suikoden)
Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞
1854, 7th month)

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