Preparatory drawing for a not identified chuban diptych.

Artist: unknown
Date: 1850's

Two unsigned okubi-e drawings.
(attributed to Hirosada / school of Hirosada)
dimension: chuban

(active 1820 - 1860)

Signature: Hirosada
Actor / play: Nakamura Utaemon IV as Kajiwara Heiji (梶原平次)
and Nakayama Nanshi II as the chamber maid (こしもと/ koshimoto) Chidori (千鳥)
Title: first act (巻ノ壱) of the play Hiragana Seisuiki (ひらかな盛衰記)
Date: performed at the Naka-za, Osaka, 8/1851
Dimension: chuban diptych / standard edition
Lit.: Kitagawa, "Bosuton bijutsukan shozô Kamigata-e mokuroku" (Kansai daigaku, 2007), p. 107; Ikeda bunko, Kamigata yakusha-e shûsei, vol. 4 (2003), #377

A small copy of the diptych.
h 12 x w 16 cm,  unsigned

Special thanks to Ward Pieters for additional infos about this print and the japanese names and titles.

Scene from the same play >> click

Sadahiro
(active after 1850)

print proof
chuban triptych

title, date etc. unknown

Suzuki Harunobu (1725 - 1770)

artist: Suzuki Harunobu
title: Ehon Haru no Nishiki (vol. 1 of 2, panel 5)
date: 1771
size: ehon double-page
lit.: Toda s.172-173.
ex-collection Julius Kurth

The print is shown in his book "Suzuki Harunobu", München & Leipzig 1910, page 68,panel 23



A different version of the print.

Nishikawa Sukenobu (1671-1751)

artist: Nishikawa Sukenobu
title: Onna manyô keiko zôshi - Manuel épistolaire pour les dames
date: 1728
publisher: Yamaguchi Mohei & Otgawa Hikokuro
ex-collection Julius Kurth

The image does not show the text that is usually in the lower third (maybe it is a print proof).
Julius Kurth wrote a different description on the back: "Ehon asaka yama / 1739"
Richard Lane says that there is an re-edition from 1742 with the title "Jokyo bunsho kagami".

The complete double-page from the ehon with text.



A single print, attributed to Sukenobu.

Signature: Ho?

Osaka ehon page?

Yoshitaki
(1841-99)

print proof
chuban diptych

reference Kunikazu

Yoshitaki
(1841-99)


Actor/play: Arashi Rikan IV as Okiku in Banshû sarayashiki, Naka Theater, Osaka
Title: Gojo no uchi: Shin ("Five Virtues: Faith")
Date: 8/1867
print proof / chuban

Thanks to blogger edward for the informations about this print.

The print:



© osakaprints.com

Sadahiro after Hirosada



Hirosada



Unknown artist after Hirosada



Hirosada



Overview

Drawings attributed to Hirosada.





more infos soon

© Ikeda Bunko Library Osaka, 1983

Hokushu
(active c.1802-1832)

Signature: Shunkosai Hokushu (with his artist seal)
Actor/Play: (right) Ichikawa Danzo V as Yashichi, (missing left sheet) Nakamura Matsue III as Otaka and Ichikawa Ebijuro I as Mokuemon from Kana-dehon Chushingura performed at the Kado Theatre
Date: 3/1824
Publisher: ?
Format: oban
Lit.: Hokushu to Toyokuni: Kamigata Edo yakusha-e meishô ten by Matsudaira, Susumu, Ikeda Bunko Library Osaka 1983, pl.48

© Ikeda Bunko Library Osaka, 1983


Toyokuni I
(1769-1825)

Signature: Toyokuni ga
Actor / play: (left) Bando Mitsugoro III as Kumagai Jiro Naozane (right) Iwai Kumesaburo II as the prince Atsumori; in the play Ichi no Tani Futaba Gunki performed at the Nakamura-za / Edo
Date: 9/1820
Publisher: Eikyudo
Censor's seal: Kiwame
Dimension: oban
Lit.: Hokushu to Toyokuni: Kamigata Edo yakusha-e meishô ten by Susumu Matsudaira, Ikeda Bunko Library Osaka 1983, pl.111

"September 1820: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the 7-role hengemono "Setsugekka Nagori no Bundai". All the seven dances are played by Mitsugorô. Three dances ("Asazuma Bune", "Makasho" and "Tama Usagi") are still part of the current Kabuki repertoire. He also plays the role of the warrior Kumagai Jirô Naozane in the drama "Ichi-no-Tani Futaba Gunki". All these items are in fact his onagori kyôgen for he was about to depart from Edo to play in Ôsaka."
quoted from kabuki21.com

Hirosada
(active 1820 - 1860)

Signature:
Actor / play:
Title: Kagamiyama Sugatausushi
Date:
Dimension: chuban diptych / standard edition
Lit.:


Impression of the deluxe edition.

Sadahiro
(active after 1850)

mameban deluxe diptych.each approx. 8 x 11 cm

Natakmura Utaemon IV (right) as the blind hero Kagekiyo and Nakamura Tamashichi I as his daughter Musume Hitomaru.

After Hirosada's chuban diptych "Megami no Kagekiyo"

Toyokuni I
(1769-1825)

Signature: Toyokuni ga
Actor / play: Matsumoto Koshiro V as Ono Kudayu; in the play Taiheiki chushin koshaku by Chikamatsu Hanji and others performed at the Nakamura-za in the 9th month of 1818.
Date: 9/1818
Publisher: Matsumura Tatsuemon
Censor's seal: Kiwame
Dimension: oban

Hokucho
(active c. 1822-1830)

Images are from two different triptychons.
more info and better pics coming soon

Hokuei
(active c.1824-1837)

more infos soon

Kiyosada
(active 1848)

Actor/Play: Jitsukawa Enzaburô I as the monkey leader Yorjiro in the play Horikawa
Signature: Kiyosada with o-no-Zo seal
Printer: Edo Jinsho (signature at left margin)
Date: 1848
Format: chuban
Lit.: Hendrick Lühl "Osaka-Holzschnitte", Harenberg, 1982, p.130

Someone had painted an additional pupil into the right eye...:



After I saw the print in "Osaka Kagami" by Jan van Doesburg I tried my best to restore the original state with watercolors:



Shigeharu
(1803-1853 / active after 1821)

Actor/Play: Nakamura Utaemon III as Kato Masakiyo in the play Keisei Asoyama Zakura,
performed at Kato (or Kado no Shibai) theatre 1/1827
Lit. : Jan van Doesburg "Osaka Kagami", Huys den Esch, The Netherlands, 1985

"January 1827: Tomoemon plays the roles of Kara no Chishima no Kami, the boatman Yoichibei and Fukagusa Jinsaku in the drama "Keisei Asoyama Zakura", which is produced by Arashi Kichinosuke in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai, in competition with the Kado no Shibai where the same play is staged with a different line-up."
www.kabuki21.com

© artsanddesignsjapan.com/


Hokushu
(active c.1802-1832)

Signature: Hokushu
Actor/Play: Ichikawa Ebijuro I as Yamagataya Gihei, (missing right sheet) Arashi Tomisaburo II as Musume Oume of the Chigiri, from the play Keisei Somewake Tazuna
Date: 1/1822
Publisher: Honsei / Tamaoki
(cartouche right edge) Nimai zuzuki
Format: oban tate-e 15.25" x 10.25"
Lit.: Hokushu to Toyokuni: Kamigata Edo yakusha-e meishô ten by Matsudaira, Susumu, Ikeda Bunko Library Osaka 1983

another version found at osakaprints.com

Utagawa Kunikazu
(active c.1850-60)

Dai Nihon Rokuju Yo shu
60-Odd Provinces of Japan


a.) The Province of Izumi
right: Nakamura Kanjaku II as Abe no Yasuna, left: Arashi Rikan III as Kuzu-no-Ha (Fox)
Summary of the kabuki play Ashiya Dôman Ôuchi Kagami about the fox-woman Kuzu-no-Ha.



b.) The Province of Kazusa
right: Onoe Baikô IV as Otomi, left: Nakamura Tamashichi I as Yosaburô
Deluxe edition


Signature: Kunikazu
Publisher: Ishikawaya Wasuke (Ishiwa)
Dated : c.1861
chuban yoko-e, 24,4 x 18,4 cm
Ikeda Bunko IV

Other prints from the same series part I & part II.