Background
The play Konoshita kage hazama gassen (Konoshita and divine intervention: A loophole in battle: 木の下蔭狭問合戦) was one of the Ishikawa Goemon mono (Plays about Ishikawa Goemon: 石川 五右衛門物), the legendary fugitive outlaw. The historical Goemon was a masterless samurai (rônin: 浪人) during the reign of the shôgun Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-98). At age sixteen Goemon murdered three men while attempting to steal from his master. After his escape, he lived as a bandit for the next two decades until, in 1594, he was captured during a failed attempt to kill Hideyoshi. Goemon met a grisly end by being boiled in oil. The theatrical adaptations of this tale often transformed Goemon into a hero — fearless, elusive, and endowed with magical powers. The first staging of Goemon's exploits occurred in the 1680s.
There were at least four artists during the 1820s-1830s in Osaka whose art names were pronounced "Shunshi." The present artist, Shunshi (春子), was a pupil of Hokushû (北洲). Active c. 1820–28, he used the gô Seiyôsai (青陽齋) and Shunyôsai (春陽齋). The other three artists using used different ideograms for "shi" were Gatôken Shunshi (画登軒春芝 act. c. 1825-35), Gakôken Shunshi (画好軒春枝 act. c. 1824-29), and Shunshi (春始 act. c. 1830s).
Design
The character played by Ichikawa Ebijûrô may be based on the real-life Kenkaya Gorôemon (Gorôemon the Brawler: 喧嘩屋五郞石衛門), a ruffian well known to Osaka police in the 1690s-1700s. Here, Gorôemon applies a wrist lock to subdue a samurai.
The actors' names and roles are inscribed within a large mimasu ("triple rice-measuring boxes," the crest of the Ichikawa actors: 三舛). The yellow background is nicely preserved in this example.
References: NKE, p. 353
Return to