UTAGAWA TOYOKUNI I — Nakamura Utaemon III as Igami no...

UTAGAWA TOYOKUNI I (1769–1825) Title: Igami no Gonta, Nakamura Utaemon いがミの権太 中村歌右衛門 (The actor Nakamura Utaemon III as Igami no Gonta) Play: Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura 義経千本桜 (Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees) Signature: 豊国画 (Toyokuni ga) Date: Late Edo period, probably 1808 (Bunka 5) Format: Ōban tate-e, approx. [37 × 25 cm] Technique: Woodblock print (mokuhanga), polychrome (nishiki-e) Paper & condition The print is in a fair condition with moderate soiling, toning and fading. The paper is firm and subtle with some repairs. Please check the images carefully! The Scene Nakamura Utaemon III (1778–1838) was the leading actor of Osaka and one of the most versatile performers of his age, equally at home in heroic, villainous and female roles. In the spring of 1808 he came to Edo for the first time, and within weeks he took on all three male leads of the classic Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura at the Nakamura-za. His Edo years set off a famous rivalry with Bandō Mitsugorō III and made him one of the most frequently portrayed actors of the Bunka era. Igami no Gonta is the black sheep of the play: a gambler and petty swindler, the disowned son of a sushi-shop owner in Yoshino. In the famous "Sushiya" act he appears to betray the fugitive Taira general Koremori, but is revealed in his dying moments to have sacrificed his own wife and child to save him. This sudden turn from villain to loyal hero (a modori role) made Gonta one of the great showpiece parts of kabuki, and it was counted among Utaemon III's finest roles.

Estimate:£125.57

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