1964 After Sharaku "Actors Iwai Kiyotaro and Bando Zenji", Full-Color Print From Japan

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A rare stunning large full-color Ukiyo-E Hanga print after original woodblock print "Actor Iwai Kiyotaro playing the Wife Fujinami of … Read more A rare stunning large full-color Ukiyo-E Hanga print after original woodblock print "Actor Iwai Kiyotaro playing the Wife Fujinami of Sagizaka Sanai & Actor Bando Zenji as Kozasa, the Wife of Washizuka Kandayu" by Toshusai Sharaku. Comes from a rare Collection of 24 Masterpieces by Sharaku. Produced & published by Shuei-Sha, Tokyo, in September, 1964. Printers: Toppan Printing Co., LTD. Printed on one side. Attached at the top to a board of heavy textured paper, covered with lighter sheet of paper for protection, numbered 15 on the label on the front of the cover. Excellent condition - minor edge wear on the board, never framed, ready to be framed. Copy of the commentary by Dr. Kiyoshi Shibui and Mr. Sadao Kikuchi (below) in Japanese and English is included.

Overall (folded) 12.50"W x 18.25"H
Overall (unfolded) 25"W x 18.25"H
Image 9.10"W x 14.30"H

Commentary by Ukiyo-e Art consultant & editor Dr. Kiyoshi Shibui and Mr. Sadao Kikuchi:
Signature: signed Toshusai Sharaku
Printers: Tsutaya Juzaburo (with a signature)
In the possession of Mr. Mikio Mizuta, Tokyo

This is a rare piece, the only one in existence in Japan in fact and there i no reason to suppose that more than a couple could be located in the rest of the world. It has been taken from the same play "Koi Nyobo Somewake Tazuna". It's a new type of larger brocade print sheet on which two standing figures appear. Unlike the other pictures which have two figures facing each other, this one has both women looking towards the left. The parts the two impersonators are playing are: one, the wife of the star villain Wakizaka Kandayu played by Bando Zenji (right) and the wife of good man Wakizaka Sanai played by Iwai Kiyotaro. SHARAKU lets contrasts speak for themselves. The villain's wife is pug nosed and nasty looking whereas the good man's wife is oval faced, the former is dressed in brash green and the latter in blue. SHARAKU with characteristics exaggeration gives expression to the moral character of the two women not only, but to their individualities as impersonators. See less