Yamamba from the series One Hundred Prints of Noh

Object Details

• Artist

  Tsukioka Kogyo 月岡耕漁 (1869-1927)

• Publisher

  Matsuki Heikichi 松木平吉

• Label

  In the play Yamanba, an actor meets the subject of her main role—the storied mountain witch, Yamanba. At the beginning of the play, a group of retainers and servants introduce a dancer famous for her song and dance impersonating the witch. As they travel, the sky suddenly gets dark. A woman approaches them and offers accommodation. The woman reveals she is Yamanba and that she feels slighted someone portraying her for so many years has never bothered to meet her. Yamanba asks for the dance to be performed by moonlight. Enthralled by seeing her own dance, the witch takes over and dances in rapture before abruptly disappearing forever.

• Provenance

  To ?

  David Wallace, Washington, DC [1]

  To 1971

  Embassy of Japan, Washington DC, gift of David Wallace, Washington, DC [2]

  From 1971

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of the Embassy of Japan, Washington, DC [3]

  Notes:

  [1] The Embassy of Japan received a gift from David Wallace of Washington, DC at an unknown date. In 1971, the Embassy of Japan gave print to the Study Collection of the Freer Gallery of Art. See letter dated February 11, 1971 from the Freer Gallery to Mr. David Wallace, copy in object file, Collections Management Office.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Study Collection

• Exhibition History

  Staging the Supernatural: Ghosts and the Theater in Japanese Prints (March 23 to October 6, 2024)

• Previous custodian or owner

  David Wallace

  Embassy of Japan

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of the Embassy of Japan, Washington, D.C.

• Type

  Print

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1920s, 1910s

• Name

  Wallace, David, Embassy of Japan

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Theater, Art, Actors and actresses, Noh, Japanese Art, Taisho era (1912 - 1926)

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints