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Utagawa KUNISADA II   (1823 - 1880)

The kabuki play Nozaki-mura ('Nozaki Village') - The tragic love story between a man and two women -

Finished preparatory brush drawing in sumi (black ink) on thin paper, with touches of orange color. Signed:                 Kunisada hitsu Date:                     c. 1860-70s Paper size:           24 x 25.5 cms / c. 9.5" x 10"), Condition:            Near FINE. - Affixed on paper along margins. Ref. no.:   # 712776 - SOLD -

A finished drawing (hanshita-e) for a fan print depicting the actor Sawamura Tanosuke III (name used 1854-1878) as the clerk Hisamatsu, and Onoe Kikugoro V (1844-1903) as Osome, in the kabuki play Nazaki-mura ('Nazaki Village'). Osome, the daughter of a rich merchant, has fallen in love with the clerk Hisamatsu. He, however, already has a fiancée named Omitsu. Returning to his hometown in Nozaki Village, he exchanges wedding vows with Omitsu, when Osome suddenly appears in the joyful scene… This love triangle among a young man and two women ahead of the New Year’s holiday comes to a painful ending.

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