Snapshots of the Past

[Portraits of actors, often playing roles] – Antique Photo Print

[Portraits of actors, often playing roles], [between 1860 and 1866 (seal date: 1860.7)] — historic print
[Portraits of actors, often playing roles], [between 1860 and 1866 (seal date: 1860.7)]. Historic print from the Japanese Prints collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

A window into the past: [Portraits of actors, often playing roles], preserved in this historic print. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

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[Portraits of actors, often playing roles]

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What sets this set apart is its single subject: all twenty sheets portray the kabuki actor Nakamura Shikan (1831–1899) in the roles he played around 1860 to 1866. Several designers worked on the series, with Utagawa Toyokuni (Kunisada) and Toyohara Kunichika producing most of the sheets and Utagawa Kuniaki contributing two. Actor prints like these were popular with theatergoers, who used them to follow favorite performers. Brought together on a single scroll, they capture the bold color and stagecraft of late Edo-period kabuki just before the Meiji era began in 1868.

Created / published[between 1860 and 1866 (seal date: 1860.7)]
Medium20 prints (mounted on scroll) : woodcut, color.
Genreorganized by the Library of Congress, 2001.
NotesTitle and other information based on entry in exhibition catalog. Artists include Utagawa Toyokuni (also known as Utagawa Kunisada) (sheets 8-10, 14-16, 20); Toyohara Kunichika (sheets 1, 2, 4, 5, 11-13, 17-19); and Utagawa Kuniaki (sheets 3, 6). Artist for sheet 7 not yet identified. Nishike-e (brocade) print. Ōban size. Forms part of: Japanese prints and drawings (Library of Congress). Four sheets (7, 9, 13, and 20) Published in: The Floating world of Ukiyo-e ... / essays by Sandy Kita .... New York ..., 2001, no. 109, pp. 174-75. Exhibited: The Floating world of Ukiyo-e: shadows
SubjectsShikan, Nakamura,--1831-1899. Actors--Japanese--1850-1870.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan4,550 × 3,669 px · prints to 15 × 12 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-222076

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