Artist: Utagawa school, unsigned on this sheet (but most likely Kunisada) Subject: Ōtomo no Kuronushi (as the barrier guard Sekibei) and Sumizome, spirit of the Komachi cherry tree, from the kabuki dance-drama Tsumoru Koi Yuki no Seki no To Technique: Nishiki-e (colour woodblock print) on washi Format: Ōban tate-e — approx. 36*23 cm Date: ca 1850s, censor seals at the top left. Genre: Yakusha-e / kabuki subject ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Paper & condition Fair colours and impression. The paper has been reinforced with kōzō fibres for stability. Some wear to the margins and some trimming. Please check the images! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- About the print A dramatic sheet from a larger composition depicting one of kabuki's most beloved supernatural confrontations, from the dance-drama known as Seki no To (1784). The court noble Ōtomo no Kuronushi, plotting against the throne in the guise of the barrier guard Sekibei, resolves to fell the great Komachi cherry tree — but when he raises his axe, the tree's spirit manifests as the courtesan Sumizome to oppose him. Here Kuronushi grips the axe-haft in his characteristic black robe, cherry petals swirling around him, while the spirit appears above amid the falling blossoms; the blossoming tree and the fire into which the cut branches are cast are visible at left. The subject was a favourite of the Utagawa school throughout the nineteenth century. This sheet, unsigned, comes from a diptych or triptych composition.