round mirror with yellow rim and black handle contains figure depicted from chest up in red garment with right hand holding the grip of a sword with a dragonfly motif; figure gazes to his right and is set against blue background with radiating black lines; Japanese characters to left and right of figure's shoulders; circular mark with characters to left of aforementioned characters; mirror hovers above offset rectangle containing a smaller, blue offset rectangle with Japanese characters; red cartouche with gold frame floats in BLC and contains Japanese characters; square mark with Japanese characters at BLC

Actor Iwai Tojaku I as Shirai Gonpachi, c. 1833

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Related to the play "Mitsu ichō gozonji no Edo-zome" 三銀杏御存地染, performed at the Nakamura Theater, 1833, fifth month.

Utagawa Kunisada’s bust portraits from the 1820s and 1830s typically show actors against a plain background accompanied by poems composed by the portrayed actors. Here, the portrait is fan shaped, allowing the image to be cut out and affixed to an actual fan. This series is also an early example of product placement, as a packet of Bien Senjokō face powder appears at the bottom of each print. It seems that the prints were delivered together with the powder or that the producer of the powder paid for some of the production costs of the print.

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Details
Title
Actor Iwai Tojaku I as Shirai Gonpachi
Artist Life
1786 - 1865
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2015.33.1.2
Catalogue Raisonne
S0526-005
Curator Approved

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round mirror with yellow rim and black handle contains figure depicted from chest up in red garment with right hand holding the grip of a sword with a dragonfly motif; figure gazes to his right and is set against blue background with radiating black lines; Japanese characters to left and right of figure's shoulders; circular mark with characters to left of aforementioned characters; mirror hovers above offset rectangle containing a smaller, blue offset rectangle with Japanese characters; red cartouche with gold frame floats in BLC and contains Japanese characters; square mark with Japanese characters at BLC