Artwork Page for Ichimura Uzaemon IX as Shingen in “A String of Prayer Beads Shaken at a Ribbon of Waterfall”

Details / Information for Ichimura Uzaemon IX as Shingen in “A String of Prayer Beads Shaken at a Ribbon of Waterfall”

Ichimura Uzaemon IX as Shingen in “A String of Prayer Beads Shaken at a Ribbon of Waterfall”

滝糸動玉緒 九代目市村宇左衛門の信玄

1775

Katsukawa Shunshō 勝川 春章

(Japanese, 1726–1792)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
color woodblock print
Measurements
Sheet: 33.4 x 15 cm (13 1/8 x 5 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift from J. H. Wade 1921.1270
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Once the center print of a triptych (a composition of three prints), this design shows Ichimura Uzaemon IX playing Takeda Harunobu (1521–1573), a storied general who received the name Shingen upon taking Buddhist vows. In the story, Shingen attempts to cut off his enemy’s water supply, using a spell to imprison the dragon god who controlled it. However, a young woman named Sakura-hime gets him drunk. While he is indisposed, she and her lover release the dragon, whereupon it rains. Here, Shingen, in Buddhist robes, grips his string of prayer beads between his teeth.
A vertical woodblock print depicts Ichimura Uzaemon IX as Shingen, a man with a light skin tone, wearing tan patterned robes and looking back toward our left. He holds prayer beads in his mouth and right hand, while his extended left hand carries a long-handled incense burner. At the bottom, wavy lines suggest a landscape beside Japanese calligraphy.

Ichimura Uzaemon IX as Shingen in “A String of Prayer Beads Shaken at a Ribbon of Waterfall”

1775

Katsukawa Shunshō

(Japanese, 1726–1792)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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