Background
The plot of the kabuki play Keisei kakehashi monogatari (Story of a courtesan and a bridge over the gorge: けいせい棧物語) appears not to have survived. Arashi Kitsusaburô II later used the stage name Rikan II.
Design
Kitsusaburô II performed two roles in this production, as Tsukimoto Hajimenosuke (月本始之助) shown here, and as Hyakusei Jûsaku (百姓十作).
The poem is signed by Kiyokuni, probably a member of the Jukôdô poetry circle and a pupil of Yoshikuni. The imagery used in the poem includes references to the tachibana (orange blossom: 橘), the crest (mon: 紋) of the actor Kitsusaburô (who also used the name Rikan II).
Provenance: This impression is from the Haber Collection, illustrated in Schwaab (Osaka Prints, 1989, no. 107). Prints from this collection are admired for their fine color preservation, and often for their rarity, as with this artist and subject.
References: OSP, no. 107; KNP-6, p. 156
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