Portrait of the Actor Onoe Tamizo II as Oshichi

Maker(s)
Artist: Shunshi (fl. ca. 1820s)
Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1820s
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 37.7 x 26.1 cm (14 13/16 x 10 1/4 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
The Anne van Biema Collection
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Accession Number
S2004.3.251
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Print
Type

Woodblock print

Keywords
actor, Anne van Biema collection, Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, kabuki, oban, poems, portrait, theater, ukiyo-e, WWII-era provenance, yakusha-e
Provenance
Provenance information is currently unavailable
Label

Onoe Tamizo II (1799-1886) appears in the role of Oshichi, a character based on one in Five Women who Loved Love (Koshoku gonin onna) by Ihara Saikaku (1642-1693). Oshichi was a fifteen-year-old girl who met her lover when she and her family fled from their home during one of Edo's many fires. She set another fire in the misguided belief that it would bring them back together, an act for which she was executed. The poem on autumnal themes is signed with the actor's poetry name, Shocho. It reads:

 As autumn progresses,
 it leaves untrampled
 blossoms of wild asters.

Translation of poem by John T. Carpenter

Published References
  • Ann Yonemura, with contributions by et al. Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema Collection. Seattle and Washington. cat. 66, pp. 184-185.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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