The Chushingura Drama Parodied by Famous Beauties: A Set of Twelve Prints-Act 11 (Komei bijin mitate chushingura junimai tsuzuki: juichi-danme)
Artist
Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿
(Japanese, early 1750s–1806)
Dateabout 1794–1795
Mediumwoodblock print; ink and color on paper; oban diptych
Dimensions37.7 x 51.1 cm (14 13/16 x 20 1/8 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection
Object number1901.59.2305
DescriptionA travesty upon a scene from the 11th act of the Chushingura drama, in which Utamaro has introduced his "self-portrait". The scene which is parodied is that in which Ko no Musashi no Kami Moronao, lulled into fancied security and put off from his guard by the report of Yuranosuke's dissipation, is shown in his dwelling in Kamakura, drinking.Label TextShugo Asano and Timothy Clark, The Passionate Art of Kitagawa Utamaro, edited by Shugo Asano and Timothy Clark and Asahi Shimbun; copyright by The Trustees of the British Museum; compiled and published in Japan by Asahi Shimbun in 1995; p.161. "A riotous party in the brothel is likened to the final vendetta (uchi-iri) scene of the Chushingura drama. In the foreground of the right scene, three women are competing in a kind of hand-game, the forfeit for which is to drink from the cup of sake in the middle. The left sheet shows the central figure of Utamaro himself, being encouraged by a courtesan to drink from a larger ceremonial sake cup. This is a parody of the culminating scene of the drama in which the villain Ko no Moronao, discovered hiding in a woodshed, is handed a dagger to commit suicide. In the crests of his jacket are the characters "Uta" and Maro," and the inscription on the pillar print above his head reads: "By request Utamaro draws his own ravishing features" (Motome ni ojite Utamaro mizukara no engan no utsusu)
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