Kabuki Actor Sawamura Sojuro III (Kinokuniya) as Nagoya Sanza from the series Actors on Stage

Object Details

• Artist

  Utagawa Toyokuni I 歌川豊国 (1769-1825)

• Label

  In Actors on the Stage, Toyokuni created a highly successful series of more than forty known designs in the oban format, which allowed for a larger and more impressive image than the narrow hosoban that had been the dominant format for actor prints before the 1790s. The actor Sawamura Sojuro III-here identified by his family's "shop name" (yago), Kinokuniya-plays the role of Nagoya Sanza (Sanzaburo), a character based on a ronin who lived in the late sixteenth century. He carries the deep hat that was worn to conceal his facial features. Toyokuni's portrait series isolates each actor against a plain background, focusing effectively on one of his current roles. Kabuki fans could easily recognize their favorite stars by their appearance or by their "shop names," which are well known to kabuki audiences and are often shouted out in enthusiasm at key moments in a performance.

• 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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• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Utagawa, Toyokuni

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints