Sukeroku 助六. Original color woodblock print (triptych), published around 1828. Signed: Gototei Kunisada ga. Published: Kawaguchiya, Shozo. Censor seal: Kiwame.
The figures are from right to left the villain Hige no Ikkyu, Agemakis lover Sukeroku and the courtesan Agemaki from the Miuraya. The performers are the Kabuki actors Bando Mitsugoro, Ichikawa Ebizo and Iwai Hanshiro.
Sukeroku is one of the most famous pieces in Kabuki, a melodrama, which is also performed today in its traditional form. Theme is the dispute of a young citizen with an inconsiderate and brutal Samurai, whereby, how could it be different, the common man wins over the exalted aristocrat in love and battle.
THREE-FOLD OBAN, EACH LEAF 38,6 x 26 CM
From a Viennese private collection