The Actor Matsumoto Kozo As Tsunewaka-maru
Artist/Culture
Torii Kiyomasu II
(Japanese, 1706–1763)
Date1754
Mediumwoodblock print, ink and color on paper; benizuri-e (2-color: beni and green)
Dimensions29.8 x 15 cm (11 3/4 x 5 7/8 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
MarkingsPublisher: Rectangular cartouche: Round cartouche with the character 'Kichi;' and 'Uemura.'
Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection
Object number1901.343
DescriptionHosoban.Label TextMatsumoto Kozo (later known as Ichikawa Danjuro V) as Tsunewaka-maru in "Momochidori kuruwa Soga," at Nakamura-za, Edo, in the first month of 1754 (Horeki 4) [Double-check with Kabuki nenpyo]. Kozo was then thirteen years old and this role was his first appearance upon the stage, dressed as a komuso (itinerant minstrel). A fan-shape with a drawing of komuso playing a shakuhachi (five-holed bamboo clarinet) and an actual robe and shakuhachi are attached to the blossoming cherry tree. A hanging cartouche indicates that he played the well-known shakuhachi (five-holed bamboo clarinet) musical composition entitled Yoru-no-tsuru hana no sugomori (The crane at night nesting amidst flowers). The performance was staged in memory of Ichikawa Danjuro III who had died twelve years before. Later in 1754 Kozo became Matsumot
On View
Not on viewCollections
