LITMIR.BIZ

      FIG. 11

      Sugimura JIHEI

      治兵衛 (active 1681–97)

      The Court Lady Koshikibu-no-Naishi 小式部内侍

      Hand-colored black and white print (tan-e), 59 x 33 cm

      Author’s Collection

      The court lady Koshikibu-no-Naishi was a well-known poet in the middle of the Heian period, who went to service at the court at the age twelve, led a rather promiscuous life, and after her second child died at the age of twenty-six. Four of her poems are included in an Imperial compiled anthology. This picture, which has a wonderful rhythm of black, shows her visiting the Kitano Shrine expecting to see and hear a cuckoo sing. Her hand points to the ema (votive tablet) with a painted cuckoo, which started to sing as she was composing a poem about it.

      FIG. 12

      Torii KIYONOBU I

      清信 (1664–1729)

      The Actor Tsutsui Kichijuro 筒井吉十郎 の京下り (1700s)

      Hand-colored black and white print (tan-e), 54 x 31 cm

      Author’s Collection

      This exciting print shows an actor as a samurai in an animated and provocative pose brandishing two fur-covered spears. The patterns on the kimono are indifferent to the folds as they swirl about the figure.

      FIG. 13

      Torii KIYOMASU I

      清倍 (ca. 1694–1716?)

      Reading a Love Letter 恋文を読む (1700s)

      Black and white print (sumizuri-e), 53 x 31 cm

      Author’s Collection

      In this print, a dramatic display of calli-graphic brush strokes creates a sense of rhythm and counter rhythm. Some of the finer lines are not related to the specific forms but are included purely as abstract elements to hold the design together.

      FIG. 14

      Torii KIYOMASU I

      清倍 (ca. 1694–1716?)

      Three Kabuki Actors Pounding Rice Paste 三歌舞伎役者の餅つき

      Hand-colored black and white print (tan-e), 58 x 31 cm

      Author’s Collection

      Here, three actors with their family crests prominently displayed are pounding rice inside a wooden barrel into mochi (rice paste), a ritual usually performed during the New Year season. The figure on the right holds the wooden mallet. The rice paste is hardened and cut into small squares that are either roasted or included in a New Year soup.

      FIG. 15

      Torii KIYOMASU II

      二代 清倍 (1706–63)

      The Actor Nakamura Senya 中村 千弥

      Hand-colored black and white print (tan-e), 60 x 31 cm

      Author’s Collection

      In this print, Nakamura Senya stands under a cherry tree in full bloom, with a hi-gasa (sunshade umbrella).

      FIG. 16

      Torii KIYOMASU II

      二代 清倍 (1706–63)

      Three Cities’ Famous Courtesans 三都 大夫

      Hand-colored black and white print (tan-e), 33 x 46 cm

      Author’s Collection

      This print of three actors in courtesan costumes standing in front of three different houses of pleasure would have been cut into three separate sheets as the publisher’s mark, Urokogataya, appears on all three subjects. This is primarily a study of eighteenth-century Edo fashion.

      FIG. 17

      Torii KIYOTADA I

      清忠 (1720–50)

      Kabuki Actor and Two Puppies

      歌舞伎役者と二匹の子犬 (1750s)

      Hand-colored black and white print (tan-e), 34 x 16.5 cm

      Author’s Collection

      A woman is watching two little puppies play at her feet. This is a lovely print whose charm is enhanced by the addition of the animals, which is rare in early eighteenth-century Japanese prints.

      FIG. 18

      Nishimura SHIGENOBU

      西村 重信 (active 1724–35)

      Kabuki Actor 歌舞伎役者 (1730s)

      Hand-colored black and white print (tan-e), 33 x 15.5 cm

      Author’s Collection

      This possibly depicts the actor Ogino Isaburo in a threatening pose on top of a well. It is almost an abstract picture as many of the enclosed elements are included for design purposes only, for example, the red and yellow hand encircling the left side of the figure. The artist Shigenobu may not have existed but could instead have been a fictitious name created by a publisher who was able to work in the Masanobu style.

      FIG. 19

      Okumura MASANOBU

      奥村 政信 (1686–1764)

      The Courtesan Chokaro 遊女張果郎 (1710s)

      Hand-colored black and white print (tan-e), 59.5 x 31.5 cm

      Author’s Collection

      The courtesan’s obi (sash) is tied in a distinctive bow, which is not a style adopted by women from other walks of life. The contrast between the heavy curved lines of the kimono and the fine lines of the head, hands and foot make this an exquisite composition.

      FIG. 20

      Ishikawa TOYONOBU

      石川 豊信 (1711–85)

      The Actor Sanogawa Ichimatsu 佐野川 市松 (1740s)

      Hand-colored black and white print (tan-e), 68 x 25.5 cm

      Author’s Collection

      The actor Sanogawa Ichimatsu stands in a graceful and stately pose with his head pointing in the opposite direction to his feet. He is holding a letter or poem in one hand while the other is encased in his kimono sleeve. The last twenty years of Toyonobu’s life were spent running his family’s inn and he therefore produced no prints after 1765.

      CHAPTER TWO

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