A Standing Man with a Book in His Hand

attributed to Utagawa Kunisada (I), c. 1825 - c. 1830

De acteur Ichikawa Danjûrô VII (1791-1859) met papierrol in de hand, gekleed in blauwe geruite kimono met zwarte korte kimono eroverheen. Met één anoniem gedicht. Met de 'zeven Komachi', uit de titel, worden zeven gebeurtenissen uit het leven van de beroemde vrouwelijk dichter Ono no Komachi bedoeld. Deze prent verwijst naar het moment, laat in haar leven, waarop ze een gedicht van de keizer niet wil wil beantwoorden, omdat ze gestopt is met het schrijven van poëzie. Aangezien niet beantwoorden uitermate onbeleefd zou zijn, besluit ze het gedicht terug te sturen, met slechts één lettergreep gewijzigd.

  • Artwork typeprint, surimono
  • Object numberRP-P-1991-559
  • Dimensionsheight 140 mm x width 187 mm
  • Physical characteristicsnishikie, with metallic pigments and embossing

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Utagawa Kunisada (I) (attributed to)

A Standing Man with a Book in His Hand

Japan, c. 1825 - c. 1830

Provenance

…; purchased from the dealer Kunsthandel Huys den Esch, Dodewaard, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1985;1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 34, cat. no. 62 by whom donated to the museum, 1991

Object number: RP-P-1991-559

Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse

The artist

Biography

Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) was a pupil of Utagawa Toyokuni, who dominated the field of kabuki prints until his death. Kunisada's prints of beautiful women, bijinga, were also very successful. Only well after he had established himself as a designer of actor prints did he enter the world of surimono design, becoming the most prolific designer of surimono in the Utagawa tradition. He also used the art-names Ichiyusai, Gototei and Kochoro.

Entry

A standing man holding an open book. Behind him, on the floor, folded papers on a cloth wrapper.

Parrot Komachi, Omu, from the series A Parody on the Seven Komachi, Mitate nana Komachi.
For general notes on the series, see RP-P-1995-285.

The folded paper features the characters Mimasu ('three rice measures'), a reference to the stage crest, mon, of the actor depicted in the print, identifying him as Ichikawa Danjuro VII.

Ichikawa Danjuro VII (1791-1859) acted under the name Danjuro from XI/1800 to III/1832, when he resumed his prior name Ichikawa Ebizo V. The association with Omu Komachi is complicated and not very clear. In the original, Komachi has retired from the world and stopped writing poetry. She initially refused to answer a poem she received from the emperor, but as this would have been considered extremely impolite, she returned it with just one syllable altered.

One anonymous poem.

Issued by the Katsushika Mimasuren,
Unsigned

Literature

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 210

Citation

M. Forrer, 2013, 'attributed to Utagawa (I) Kunisada, A Standing Man with a Book in His Hand, Japan, c. 1825 - c. 1830', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200467508

(accessed 11 December 2025 05:52:30).

Footnotes

  • 1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 34, cat. no. 62