[Ichikawa Kuzō II] – The Place of Ablution at the Eastern End of the Bridge

An untitled set of Actors Paired with Locations around Ryōgoku Bridge

Information

Title [Ichikawa Kuzō II] – The Place of Ablution at the Eastern End of the Bridge Higashizume koriba 東詰こり場
Series title An untitled set of Actors Paired with Locations around Ryōgoku Bridge
Artist Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) 歌川国貞 (三代目豊国) (1786–1865)
Date c. 1835
Publisher Uedaya Kyūjirō
City Edo
Signature Kōchōrō Kunisada ga 香蝶樓国貞画
Censorship seal(s) kiwame 極
Publisher’s seal(s) manji 卍
Inscription

[.....] [signed] San’en 三猿 [sealed with Kuzō's emblem]

Technique & material Woodblock print; full colour print; pigment on paper
Format ōban
Object number SH2018-DM-034
Credit Line Gift of Muck and Mieke Douma
Provenance Gifted to the Japan Museum SieboldHuis in April 2018 by Muck and Mieke Douma.

Description

Each of the prints from this set portrays a famous actor paired with a location near Ryōgoku Bridge and carries a poem composed and signed by the depicted actor. This print shows Ichikawa Kuzō II (1800–1871). The location in the fan-shaped inset is at the eastern end of the bridge, a 'place of ablution' (koriba) where people ritually purified themselves in the Sumida River.