Utagawa Hiroshige - Imaginary scene of a private kabuki performance - image-1

Lot 226 Dα

Utagawa Hiroshige - Imaginary scene of a private kabuki performance

Auction 1235 - overview Cologne
08.12.2023, 11:30 - India/Southeast Asia, Tibet/Nepal, China, Korea and Japan
Estimate: 2.000 € - 2.500 €
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Utagawa Hiroshige

Imaginary scene of a private kabuki performance

Ōban triptych. Title: Mitate zashiki kyōgen, sanmaitsuzuki. Imaginary scene of a private kabuki performance. View of the performance room and dressing rooms. Famous actors of the day are shown, i.e. Bandō Mitsugorō III, Iwai Hanshirō V and Ichikawa Danjurō VII. Signed: Ōju Utagawa Hiroshige ga, Utagawa Hiroshige ga and Ōju Utagawa Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Iwatoya Kisaburō. Censor: kiwame. 1818-1822. Very rare. Good impression and colours, margins and corners slightly dented, a few small, professionally restored spots, slight traces of usage, in mat

This triptych is probably the earliest known work by Hiroshige, made at the age of 22-24. MFA, Boston, dates the triptych 1821-1822; Richard Kruml dates it a little earlier: 1818-1820. Other impressions are illustrated in Juzo Suzuki, Utagawa Hiroshige. Tokyo: The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1970, no. 86 and Tsuneo Tanba, The Art of Hiroshige. Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun, 1965, no. 122

Provenance

Michael Müller-Stüler Collection, acquired from Richard Kruml, London, 2013

Exhibitions

Cf. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 54.1537-9