HIROSADA, Gosotei (fl. ca.1819 - 1865)

Arashi Rikaku II as Hanaregoma Chokichi; Kataoka Gado II as Nuregami Chogoro; Jitsukawa Ensaburo as Shirafuji Genta

Series: (A Mirror of Filial and Loyal Wrestlers) Chuko sekitori kagami
Signature: Hirosada
Publisher: Kinkado, Konishi
Engraver: hori Uchitora
Place of publication: Osaka
Date: mid-1848
Format: chuban triptych
Reference: Keyes Hirosada, no.7

Exquisite deluxe printing applications, including lacquer polishing, blind printing, embossing, tarnishing from the use of powdered metals, and prolific bokashi-representing the pinnacle of excellence in Osaka woodblock printing.

"Although most of Hirosada's prints commemorate particular kabuki performances, 'The Mirror of Wrestlers' depicts leading actors of the Osaka stage in different plays in an imaginary tableau. . .Without narrative contstraints Hirosada was freer than usual to explore the shallow, confined space in which he usually placed his figures during this period. The cartouche around the actors' role names is a stylized form of the toshidama, an emblem used by Kunisada and other members of the Utagawa school of print designers. It appears as a cartouche on Hirosada's prints only between the fifth and eighth months of 1848." - Roger Keyes, p.83

Condition, impression & color fine: album backing, slightly trimmed, left corners bent

5788.07

$750.00