Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) – Kabuki-Innenraumszene – Original-Holzschnitt-Diptychon, 1857 - Japan - Edo-Zeit (1600-1868)

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞, signing as Toyokuni III 豊国 (1786–1864)

Format: Ōban tate-e, 2 sheets, each approx. 25 × 36 cm
Technique: Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and colour on paper
Date: 1857, from the censor seal,
Signature: 豊国画 (Toyokuni ga) in toshidama cartouche, on each sheet
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ZUSTAND

Excellent colours and impression. The diptych was professionally restored from an Edo-period album: the original album folds (one horizontal, one vertical) have been flattened and the sheets stabilised, so the paper is now firm and supple. Apart from those old, now-restored fold lines, a clean and well-preserved pair. Good condition overall. Please refer to the images for full condition detail.
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ÜBER DIE DRUCKGRAFIK

This diptych was published in the 7th month of 1857, when Kunisada was 71 and had been working as Toyokuni III for more than ten years. At this point he was the most productive and commercially successful designer of actor prints in Edo. Prints like this were published to coincide with current kabuki productions. Each figure is identified by a role name in a red cartouche, so audiences could recognise the play and the stars they had just seen on stage.

The scene takes place in an interior, and the colour scheme carries the composition. Deep greens, strong blues and warm reds and oranges are set against each other across the two sheets, giving a rich, saturated palette typical of Kunisada's actor prints from the late Ansei era.