The Actor Onoe Kikugoro III as the Ghost of Yonakiishi
Object Details
- Label
- The prominent Edo actor, Onoe Kikugoro III (1784-1849), here performs at Osaka's Kado Theater in a play based on the Fifty-three Stations along the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusantsugi), the main road linking Edo and Kyoto. The actor plays the ghost, Yonakiishi, who wears a dark blue obi tied in front of her kimono. The blue and silver tones create an eerie image against the darkness represented by the black background. The haiku (hokku), signed with the actor's poetry name, Baiko, likens a hototogisu (little cuckoo), a messenger from the other world in Japanese folklore, to a restless spirit who cannot find salvation:
- The little cuckoo,
- flitting aimlessly,
- traverses the path of love.
- Translation of poem by John T. Carpenter
- Collection
- National Museum of Asian Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema Collection (September 15, 2002 to January 9, 2003)
- Credit Line
- The Anne van Biema Collection
- Data Source
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Date
- 1841
- Period
- Edo period
- Accession Number
- S2004.3.295
- Artist
- Utagawa Sadanobu 歌川貞信 (1809-1879)
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Medium
- Ink and color on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W (overall): 36.7 x 24.6 cm (14 7/16 x 9 11/16 in)
- Origin
- Japan
- Related Online Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Topic
- portrait
- Edo period (1615 - 1868)
- theater
- kabuki
- ghost
- Japan
- actor
- haiku
- ukiyo-e
- oban
- yakusha-e
- Japanese Art
- Anne van Biema collection
- Record ID
- fsg_S2004.3.295
