Shunkosai Hokushu (active circa 1810-32)
The complete set of Hits of a Lifetime of Kyogen (Issei ichidai atari kyogen), 1825
Each a woodblock print, embellished with embossing to the fans and metallic pigments
Each signed: 'Shunkosai Hokushu ga' (Pictured by Shunkosai Hokushu)
Each with red artist's seal: 'Hokushu' (hand-impressed)
Various publishers
Date: 1825, third month
Each signed: 'Shunkosai Hokushu ga' (Pictured by Shunkosai Hokushu)
Each with red artist's seal: 'Hokushu' (hand-impressed)
Various publishers
Date: 1825, third month
Each vertical oban:
each approx. 38.3 x 25.5 cm. (15 x 10 in.)
each approx. 38.3 x 25.5 cm. (15 x 10 in.)
Each a very good impression and colour. Each with some typical light soiling, minor trimming and slight toning, some scattered repairs in places. The second - paper slightly thin especially near top left corner and some slight creasing. The fifth - wormholes restored near top edge, slight creasing, some toning.
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Further images
Each of these five portraits presented within a fan format were issued in the third month of 1825 when Nakamura Utaemon III (1778–1838) acted in a series of prominent roles...
Each of these five portraits presented within a fan format were issued in the third month of 1825 when Nakamura Utaemon III (1778–1838) acted in a series of prominent roles at the Kado Theatre in Osaka, to mark what he expected to be his farewell performances before retiring due to ill health. He recovered, however, and resumed his theatrical career until 1838.
This set of five prints each features a bust portrait of the actor Nakamura Utaemon III (Shikan) within a fan, performing his 'farewell performances' in the following roles:
- The honorable Genji warrior Kumagai Jiro Naozane in the play Ichinotani Futaba Gunki, hand-impressed publisher's mark Kakuseido (Tsuruseido: 鶴勢堂) and trademark flower seal of Wataya Kihei, no series title on this impression
- Kumagai Jiro Naozane in the play Ichinotani Futaba Gunki, published by Honya Seishichi (no publisher's mark on this impression)
- The villainous murderer Kyogoku Takumi in the play Hikosan Gongen Chikai no Sukedachi, hand-impressed publisher's mark on fan handle 'Naniwa, Ariwarado Kobun' and separate mark at lower right, both of Ariwarado Chubei (active ca. 1821-1825); and flower mark of publisher Wataya Kihei
- Osono in the play Hikosan Gongen Chikai no Sukedachi, published by Akashido (hand-impressed seal on fan handle)
- The powerful and clever warrior Gotobei in the play Yoshitsune Koshigoejo, published by published by Honya Seishichi
Dr. Gerhard Pulverer is a German medical researcher who worked at the University of Cologne. He bought his first Japanese woodblock prints in Kyoto in the 1970s while visiting Japan for a scientific conference. For more than thirty years, he and his wife Rosemarie travelled the world assembling a large collection woodblock prints and Japanese illustrated books (ehon). In forming the collection, he drew on the advice of highly regarded experts including Jack Hillier, C.H. Mitchell, Tim Clark and Ellis Tinios.
In 2007 the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC purchased the illustrated book collection. It is today regarded as one of the most outstanding and comprehensive collections of Japanese illustrated books outside Japan.
For an insightful interview with the collector by Ellis Tinios (on behalf of the Smithsonian National Museum of Art), go to: https://pulverer.si.edu/node/186
This set of five prints each features a bust portrait of the actor Nakamura Utaemon III (Shikan) within a fan, performing his 'farewell performances' in the following roles:
- The honorable Genji warrior Kumagai Jiro Naozane in the play Ichinotani Futaba Gunki, hand-impressed publisher's mark Kakuseido (Tsuruseido: 鶴勢堂) and trademark flower seal of Wataya Kihei, no series title on this impression
- Kumagai Jiro Naozane in the play Ichinotani Futaba Gunki, published by Honya Seishichi (no publisher's mark on this impression)
- The villainous murderer Kyogoku Takumi in the play Hikosan Gongen Chikai no Sukedachi, hand-impressed publisher's mark on fan handle 'Naniwa, Ariwarado Kobun' and separate mark at lower right, both of Ariwarado Chubei (active ca. 1821-1825); and flower mark of publisher Wataya Kihei
- Osono in the play Hikosan Gongen Chikai no Sukedachi, published by Akashido (hand-impressed seal on fan handle)
- The powerful and clever warrior Gotobei in the play Yoshitsune Koshigoejo, published by published by Honya Seishichi
Dr. Gerhard Pulverer is a German medical researcher who worked at the University of Cologne. He bought his first Japanese woodblock prints in Kyoto in the 1970s while visiting Japan for a scientific conference. For more than thirty years, he and his wife Rosemarie travelled the world assembling a large collection woodblock prints and Japanese illustrated books (ehon). In forming the collection, he drew on the advice of highly regarded experts including Jack Hillier, C.H. Mitchell, Tim Clark and Ellis Tinios.
In 2007 the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC purchased the illustrated book collection. It is today regarded as one of the most outstanding and comprehensive collections of Japanese illustrated books outside Japan.
For an insightful interview with the collector by Ellis Tinios (on behalf of the Smithsonian National Museum of Art), go to: https://pulverer.si.edu/node/186
Provenance
Dr. Gerhard Pulverer (b. 1930)Exhibitions
June 30 - September 15, 2005: The British Museum, Kabuki Heroes on the Osaka Stage 1780-1830Publications
Four prints of the Pulverer set are published in:C. Andrew Gerstle, Kabuki Heroes on the Osaka Stage 1780-1830, (British Museum Press, 2005), cat. nos. 232 - 236, pp. 250 - 253.
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