Yakusha-e: Kabuki Prints, a Continuing Tradition
(from 29th Nov 2011 until 4th Mar 2012)Discover the brightly coloured woodblock prints of actors from Japanese popular theatre.
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The geisha Sankatsu holding two halves of a sake cup
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Description
In this triptych [see EA1983.36], two merchants compete for the love of the geisha Sankatsu. Sankatsu holds the two halves of a red sake cup in her hands, demonstrating her divided loyalties towards the two men.
Prints were produced by a team of craftsmen employed by a publisher. The publisher commissioned an artist to produce an image, which was then carved onto wooden blocks by an engraver and finally inked and printed up by the printer. At first prints were restricted to black outlines, which were often hand-coloured. By the mid-1700s, multiple blocks were being used to print several different colours onto a single sheet of paper.
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Details
- Associated place
- Date
- 1849 - 1850
- Artist/maker
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Utagawa Kunisada (1823-1880) (designer)
- Associated people
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Sanoya Kihei (active c. 1801 - 1878) (publisher)Kinugasa Fusajirō (active c. 1843 - 1853) (censor)Watanabe Shoemon (active c. 1849 - 1853) (censor)
- Material and technique
- woodblock
- Dimensions
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mount 55.5 x 26.6 cm (height x width)
sheet 34.9 x 23.3 cm (height x width)
- Material index
- Technique index
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Presented by Christ Church College, University of Oxford, 1983.
- Accession no.
- EA1983.36.b
Past Exhibition
see (1)
Location
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- currently in research collection
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Notice
Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
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