Onoe Kikugorō III as the ghost of Usugumo

Object Details

• Artist

  Utagawa Sadahiro 歌川貞広 (active 1825-1875)

• Publisher

  Shohonya Seishichi (Honsei) 正本屋清七 (active ca. 1803-1893)

• Label

  In Edo period theater, stage tricks were sometimes used for ghosts, such as a device made of cotton strips soaked in grain alcohol that formed a spirit flame, or shōchūbi. The use of a spirit flame prop can be seen in this print, where a stagehand dressed in black holds it beside an actor in the role of Usugumo’s ghost.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

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

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  The Pearl and Seymour Moskowitz 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, Sadahiro, Shohonya, Seishichi

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Theater, Art, Actors and actresses, Ghost, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, The Pearl and Seymour Moskowitz Collection

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints