
The Property of an English Gentleman
No reserve
Lot Closed
March 24, 03:05 PM GMT
Estimate
500 - 800 GBP
Lot Details
Description
The Property of an English Gentleman
Attributed to Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)
Memorial portrait (shini-e) of the actor Nakamura Utaemon IV
Edo period, 19th century
woodblock print, shini-e, depicting the actor Nakamura Utaemon IV in the role of Taira no Kiyomori dressed in monks robes and with shaven head, unsigned, 1852
Vertical oban: 34.5 x 24.1 cm., 13⅝ x 9½ in.
The tanka by the poet Umeya Kakuju, a close friend of Kuniyoshi's, has been translated in by Robert Schaap in Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi 1797-1861, (The Netherlands, 1998), p. 165:
Finally
he went out like a flame
he played his role
we will remember
Taira Shōkoku [Kiyomori]
Hi no kieshi
yō ni nashikeri
wasa wo kino
Taira Shōkoku wa
nagori ni wa shite
For a further example in the collection of the Edo Tokyo Museum, collection ID 94202582, go to:
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