The Actor Matsumoto Koshiro V as Takechi Mitsuhide

Object Details

• Artist

  Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 (1786-1865)

• Label

  Kunisada's portrait of Matsumoto Koshiro V is composed as if it were a cloth picture, a kind of collage applied to a battledore (a wooden paddle used to play a badminton-like game). Such decorated battledores were sold at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines at the New Year. This print commemorates Koshiro's 1817 performance as the warrior Takechi Mitsuhide in a period play loosely based on events of the late sixteenth century, when several powerful warriors vied for control of Japan. Published in 1823, it is one of a series of portraits in this format.

• 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

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

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints