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KUNIHIRO, Utagawa (fl. 1815-1843)		The kabuki actors Ichikawa Ebijûrô and Ichikawa Danjô in the kabuki play: Kataki-uchi Sôzen-ji Baba
		Signed:       Kunihiro ga Date:           c. 1820-30s Size:            ôban diptych (c. 37 x 26 cms / c. 10 1/4" x 14 1/2", each sheet) Condition: EXCELLENT impression and color. Occasional, faint soil; backed binding holes along one edge of each sheet. ref. no.:  # 773354 Price:     € 950.00

A kabuki scene from the play, "Kataki-uchi Sôzen-ji Baba". Here, Ichikawa Ebijûrô (left) is in the role of the villain Ninja warrior Denpachi. He is parrying the lance attack by Shundô Kihachirô (played by Ichikawa Danzô) in a pine forest. The Osaka - Kyoto - Kobe area of Japan was called 'Kamigata' in the Edo period. The region had a much smaller population than the area around Edo (Toyko). The Ukiyo-e artists in Kamigata developed a unique style of their own, especially in the 'yakusha-e' (actor prints) style. The production numbers of these prints were much smaller and the quality of printing generally better than those of kabuki prints produced in Edo. Utagawa KUNIHIRO was a woodblock prints artist and worked both, in Edo and Ôsaka.

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