A Celebration of Actors (Yakusha mono iwai)

1784

Not on view

Illustrated by the pioneering Osaka painter and print artist Ryūkōsai, this two-volume set comprises woodblock-printed portraits of forty-nine Kabuki actors of the day, each with their own poem. Books like this helped establish a visual code by which fans could identify favorite actors, through facial characteristics and crests on their costumes. On the last page of each volume is a table of the actors with their stage clan names (yagō) and haiku pen names (haimyō).

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

「旦生言語備」
Title: A Celebration of Actors (Yakusha mono iwai)
Artist: Ryūkōsai Jokei 流光斎如圭 (Japanese, active 1777–1809)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: 1784
Culture: Japan
Medium: Illustrated books, 2 volumes; a: 16 leaves; b: 13 leaves
Dimensions: 9 x 6 1/4 in. (22.9 x 15.9 cm)
Classification: Illustrated Books
Credit Line: Seymour Fund, 1958
Object Number: JIB173a, b
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

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The Onnagata Actor Hanagiri Toyomatsu (Shisei) III as Ohaya, Ryūkōsai Jokei 流光斎如圭 Japanese, Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper; vertical hosoban, Japan — The Onnagata Actor Hanagiri Toyomatsu (Shisei) III as Ohaya
Ryūkōsai Jokei 流光斎如圭
1793

The Courtesan Umematsu of the Atarashiya Brothel Costumed as an Ohara Maiden, Ryūkōsai Jokei 流光斎如圭 Japanese, Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper; vertical hosoban, Japan — The Courtesan Umematsu of the Atarashiya Brothel Costumed as an Ohara Maiden
Ryūkōsai Jokei 流光斎如圭
early 1790s

Landscapes with poems, Gong Xian Chinese, Fifteen leaves from an album (1980.516.2a–c and 1981.4.1a–o) of eighteen leaves, China — Landscapes with poems
Gong Xian
1688

Illustrated Six-Character Poems of the Tang Dynasty, one volume of Eight Kinds of Painting Manuals (vol. 1); Illustrated Poems of Plants and Flowers, one volume of Eight Kinds of Painting Manuals (vol. 2), Cai Chonghuan Chinese, Two volumes of woodblock-printed books; ink on paper, China — Illustrated Six-Character Poems of the Tang Dynasty, one volume of Eight Kinds of Painting Manuals (vol. 1); Illustrated Poems of Plants and Flowers, one volume of Eight Kinds of Painting Manuals (vol. 2)
Cai Chonghuan
dated 1621, first edition

Book Cover with Four Durgas, Distemper on wood, Nepal (Kathmandu Valley) — Book Cover with Four Durgas
Nepal (Kathmandu Valley)
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