Actor Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Torii Matasuke

Artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年 (Japanese, 1839–1892)

Date3rd month 1860

Mediumwoodblock print, ink, color, embossing, and mica on paper

DimensionsOban: 35.7 × 24.4 cm (14 1/16 × 9 5/8 in.)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineAlexander H. Bullock Fund

Terms

Object number2002.257

DescriptionKabuki actors enjoyed celebrity status during the Edo period (1603–1868), and their portraits constituted a primary subject of Japanese woodblock printing throughout its long history. The publication of this print was timed to coincide with the performance of its subject, On Mirror Mountain: Iwafuji at a Later Date, which opened at the Ichimura theater that same month. The faithful servant Matasuke was involved in a plot to kill his lord’s scheming mistress, though in a twist typical of kabuki plays, mistakenly murders the lord’s wife instead. Eyes crossed in a conventional gesture of extreme concentration, Matasuke stands in a bamboo thicket, intensely peering through the pouring rain to secure his target.
Label TextKabuki actors enjoyed celebrity status during the Edo period (1603–1868), and their portraits constituted a primary subject of Japanese woodblock printing throughout its long history. The publication of this print was timed to coincide with the performance of its subject, On Mirror Mountain: Iwafuji at a Later Date, which opened at the Ichimura theater that same month. The faithful servant Matasuke was involved in a plot to kill his lord’s scheming mistress, though in a twist typical of kabuki plays, mistakenly murders the lord’s wife instead. Eyes crossed in a conventional gesture of extreme concentration, Matasuke stands in a bamboo thicket, intensely peering through the pouring rain to secure his target.ProvenanceKatie and Scott McDonald, Rochester, NY

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