The Actor Bando Mitsugoro IV as Kan Shojo

Object Details

• Artist

  Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 (1786-1865)

• Label

  Kan Shojo, the role played by Bando Mitsugoro IV (1800- 1863) according to the inscription on this print, represents the courtier Sugawara no Michizane (845-903). The famous play, Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy (Sugawara denju tenarai kagami), which was performed both in kabuki and puppet theaters, has a complex plot based on the life of Michizane, who was exiled to Kyushu because of the actions of a rival at the imperial court. In this brilliant design by Kunisada, the actor raises the sleeve of his robe, which is decorated with a stylized plum-blossom motif that is associated with this role. To the right is an arrow hitting a bull's-eye, a symbol that was hung in the towers of kabuki theaters to indicate a "hit" play. This print commemorates a performance in the year that Mitsugoro inherited his adoptive father's name, under which he carried on a rivalry with Nakamura Utaemon IV (1796?-1852) that had begun between the actors' respective fathers.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema Collection (September 15, 2002 to January 9, 2003)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  The Anne van Biema Collection

• Type

  Print

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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• Date

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• Name

  Utagawa, Kunisada

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Theater, Art, Actors and actresses, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Archery, Japanese Art, Anne van Biema collection, Portraits

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints