Title
Bando Shuka I as the courtesan Shiraito of Hashimoto-ya
1852
Artist
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Details
- Place where the work was made
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Japan
- Date
- 1852
- Media category
- Materials used
- woodblock print; ink and colour on paper, ōban diptych
- Dimensions
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35.3 x 49.2 cm
:
a - right sheet, 35.1 x 24.5 cm, image
a - right sheet, 35.7 x 25.2 cm, sheet
b - left sheet, 35.3 x 24.7 cm, image
b - left sheet, 35.7 x 25.2 cm, sheet
- Signature & date
Signed [right sheet; part a] l.l. [in cartouche], in Japanese, "Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi-ga [and artist's red seal]".
Signed [left sheet; part b] l.r. [in cartouche], in Japanese, "Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi-ga [and artist's red seal]".- Credit
- Gift of Dr. James Hayes 2003
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 328.2003.a-b
- Copyright
- Artist information
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Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
Here the kabuki actor Bando Shuka I plays the courtesan Shiraito in the Yoshiwara pleasure district of Edo (Tokyo). The play was first performed in Edo’s Nakamura theatre in 1852. Bando Shuka I was renowned as an onnagata (female role specialist). In kabuki, all roles are usually played by men.
The scene gives a sense of what a pleasure house of the 1850s may have looked like, and the activities that took place. The man rolling up his sleeves is Suzuki Mondo, a samurai bankrupted by his obsession with Shiraito. The figure in the black hood near the centre may represent Suzuki Mondo’s wife, there to attack Shiraito.
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Places
Where the work was made
Japan
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Exhibition history
Shown in 1 exhibition
Glorious, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 27 May 2017–06 Jan 2019
