Man by Standing Screen

Utagawa Kuniyasu (mentioned on object), c. 1825 - c. 1830

De kabuki acteur Seki Sanjuro II (1786-1839) in een onbekende rol, staat in een gestreepte kimono bij een laag kamerscherm waarop chrysanten staan afgebeeld, terwijl hij naar zijn zwaard grijpt. De chrysanten verwijzen naar de negende maand, mogelijk de maand waarop dit toneelstuk werd opgevoerd. Met één gedicht.

  • Artwork typeprint, surimono
  • Object numberRP-P-1999-247
  • Dimensionsheight 202 mm x width 177 mm
  • Physical characteristicsnishikie, with metallic pigments and blindprinting (on the sleeves of the under kimono)

Utagawa Kuniyasu

Man by Standing Screen

Japan, 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, 1996;1Coll. cat. Goslings 2004, p. 11, cat. no. 326 by whom donated to the museum, 1999

Object number: RP-P-1999-247

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

The artist

Biography

Utagawa Kuniyasu (1794-1832), a pupil of Utagawa Toyokuni, designed prints of actors, beautiful women and landscapes as well as surimono and book illustrations. He also used the art name Ipposai.

Entry

A man in a striped kimono, a red scarf around his neck, reaching for his sword. A low standing screen, tsuitate, with a decoration of chrysanthemums at left.

The man is the kabuki actor Seki Sanjuro II in an unidentified role. The decoration on the screen provides the only clue to a date of this performance, most likely suggesting the Ninth Month. Seki Sanjuro II (1786-1839) acted under this name from XI/1807 until his death in IX/1839.

This might be the right-hand sheet of a diptych.

One poem by Karintei Kotonoha Nagaki [earlier Tsushoken Kotonoha, but apparently not identical to any of the three Nagakis listed in Kano].2Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 160.

The poem alludes to ‘the mist around the willows in Spring’, but also speaks of a ‘shark-skin scabbard’ - whereas the scabbard worn by the actor looks more like it has mother-of-pearl inlays.

Issued by the poet
Signature reading: Kuniyasu hitsu, with Toshidama ring

Literature

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 528

Citation

M. Forrer, 2013, 'Utagawa Kuniyasu, Man by Standing Screen, Japan, c. 1825 - c. 1830', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200413474

(accessed 8 December 2025 21:51:09).

Footnotes

  • 1Coll. cat. Goslings 2004, p. 11, cat. no. 326
  • 2Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 160.