On View
Not on viewObject number1960/1.423
The Actor Iwai Hanshiro V as the Courtesan Agemaki
Artist
Toyokuni Utagawa
(Japanese, 1769-1825)
Dateca. 1811
Mediumwoodblock print
Dimensionsmat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
image (flush): 15 3/16 in. × 10 in. (38.6 × 25.4 cm)
image (flush): 15 3/16 in. × 10 in. (38.6 × 25.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of Miss Fillette Many
Exhibition History"Impressions: Printmaking in Japan," Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Joy Light Gallery of Asian Art (Apr. 1 - July 23, 2017).Label TextAs in Shakespeare's day, female characters were played by male actors specializing in female roles. Iwai Hanshiro V was part of a respected lineage of ten actors passing down this stage name from the late 17th century through the mid 20th century.
In the play titled Sukeroku (also referenced in the print by Hirosada), Agemaki is the top courtesan in a tea-house. She is attracted to the handsome samurai, Sukeroku, who must avenge his father's murder. But Agemaki is pursued by a villain—the murderer who must be tricked into revealing the stolen sword of Sukeroku's father.
Agemaki's costume is known for having one of kabuki theater’s most elaborate wigs, weighing 25 to 30 pounds.
