四代目尾上菊五郎歌舞伎演员的纪念肖像（死絵）——死印，万延元年（1860） - 日本 - Edo Period (1600-1868)

** 一幅罕见的死絵，万延1年（1860年） **

Artist: Unsigned (無款) — 纸张上无签名或印章，这与为这位演员去世而发行的多张纪念纸相符

Title: Untitled shini-e (死絵, "death picture") for the actor Onoe Kikugorō IV (四代目尾上菊五郎), shown as a young woman (musume) in a blue kimono patterned with a lotus pond, escorted by a demon-masked figure carrying a large black umbrella — understood to represent the actor Arashi Otohachi III

标题：无题死絵（死絵，"death picture"）为四代目尾上菊五郎的演员，画中以蓝色和服、莲池纹样的年轻女子（娘役）形象出现，被一个带面具的恶魔陪同，举着一把大黑伞——据理解代表演员 Arashi Otohachi III

Occasion: Memorial sheet marking the death of Onoe Kikugorō IV, who died on the 28th day of the 6th month of Man'en 1 (1860) and was buried at Kōraku-ji temple, Imado, Asakusa; the inscribed verse is attributed to his haiku pen-name, Baifu (梅婦)

题记：纪念纸，纪念四代目尾上菊五郎去世。其于万延1年6月28日逝世，并葬于浅草今户的兴乐寺；所题诗句据称出自其俳号“梅婦”

Date: 1860 (Man'en 1), 6th month

日期：1860年（万延1年）6月

Technique: Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and colour on paper

技法：木版画（錦絵）；纸上以墨和彩绘

Format: Vertical ōban approx. 35*24 cm

规格：竖版大判，约35×24厘米
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Condition

Fair overall. Colour and impression are good throughout. The paper is fair — minor trimming, scattered soiling, some surface rubbing, and minor old repairs are present, with a small loss at the lower edge. The sheet remains firm and supple to the touch, with no brittleness.. Please check the images carefully!

状况

总体尚可。色彩与印象整体良好。纸张状况一般——有轻微裁切、散乱污迹、表面擦痕及少量旧修补，下缘有小缺损，其余触感仍然坚实柔韧，无脆裂。请仔细查看图像！
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About the Print

Shini-e — "death pictures" — were issued within days of a well-known actor's death, sold as instant memorial keepsakes for fans and fellow performers. They typically show the actor not on stage but in an imagined, often symbolic scene: dressed for the road to the afterlife, in the robes of a Buddhist pilgrim, or, as here, accompanied by a demon figure evoking the journey beyond this world. The inscribed death poem (jisei), the posthumous Buddhist name, the date and place of burial, and the actor's family crest are standard elements of the form, all present on this sheet.

关于死絵

死絵—“死亡画”——是在知名演员去世后数日内发行的即时纪念品，供粉丝和同行表演者收藏。它们通常不是在舞台上呈现，而是在想象中的、常带象征意义的场景中：为往生之路做打扮，穿着佛教朝圣者的长袍，或如本作所示，由带恶魔面具的角色陪同，象征跨越尘世的旅程。所题的死亡诗（自句死去名）、去世后佛名、埋葬的日期与地点，以及演员的家纹，都是此形式的标准元素，全部出现在这张纸上。

Onoe Kikugorō IV (1808–1860) was one of the leading actors of the late Edo stage, admired for his range across villain, ghost, and female roles alike; his death in the summer of 1860 prompted a wave of memorial prints from several of the leading Utagawa-school designers, a number of which — signed and unsigned alike — are preserved today in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts' Bigelow Collection. This sheet, showing Kikugorō in a female role shadowed by a demon-masked companion, belongs to that same outpouring of tribute prints from the summer of 1860.

尾上菊五郎四世（1808–1860）是江户晚期舞台的领军演员之一，因其在反派、鬼怪与女役等角色上的广泛演出而广受赞誉；他于1860年夏去世，催生了由多位顶级歌川派设计师创作的纪念版画潮流，其中一些（有署名亦有无署名）至今收藏在波士顿美术馆的Bigelow收藏中。本幅显示菊五郎在女性角色中的形象，身边是戴恶魔面具的同伴，属于1860年夏季这波致敬版画的同一系列。