Utagawa Kunisada (I)

A Standing Man Grasping His Sword

Japan, Japan, Japan, 1825

Provenance

…; purchased from the dealer Kunsthandel Huys den Esch, Dodewaard, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1991;1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 29, cat. no. 50 by whom donated to the museum, 1991

ObjectNumber: RP-P-1991-715

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 wearing a short kimono over a wrestler’s apron, grasping his sword.

The First Right: Refreshing Waves, Ichiban migi - Suzunami, from the series A Comparison of Cocks, Niwatori awase.

The man is the kabuki actor Bando Mitsugoro III, possibly in the role of Tawara Matataro in the play Heike monogatari, which he performed in XI/1824 at the Ichimura Theatre in Edo.2Kabuki nenpyo (Chronology of Kabuki), 8 vols. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1973 (1956), vol. 6, p. 119. Bando Mitsugoro III (1775-1832) acted under this name from 1799 until his death in the Twelfth Month of Tenpo 2, i.e., 1832.

Two poems by Toryutei Kawachika and Rakuseian [Taijin]. The poet Rakuseian appears on several surimono in this collection (see RP-P-1958-305, RP-P-1991-641 and RP-P-1960-276) and was also involved in the selection of poems for the album Kyoka Poems on the Portraits of the Heroes of the Suikoden, Kyoka Suikogadenshu, issued in 1829.3Suga, Chikuho, Kyoka shomoku shusei. Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977, p. 75.

Issued by the Sugawawaren(?)
Signature reading: on request, motome ni ojite Kunisada ga

Literature

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 546

Citation

M. Forrer, 2013, 'Utagawa (I) Kunisada, A Standing Man Grasping His Sword, Japan, 1825', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.446744

(accessed 27 July 2025 06:36:49).

Footnotes

  • 1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 29, cat. no. 50
  • 2Kabuki nenpyo (Chronology of Kabuki), 8 vols. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1973 (1956), vol. 6, p. 119.
  • 3Suga, Chikuho, Kyoka shomoku shusei. Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977, p. 75.