Lot 43: ISHIKAWA TOYONOBU, (1711-85), C.1750'S

in a play in the hinamatsuri (doll's festival), probably the Hinayagata Fuji o miru kyo, perfomed in the 3rd month of Horeki 1 [1751] at the Nakamura-za; Sanogawa Ichimatsu kneeling beside a toy set of bows and arrows and holding a sword whilst Segawa Kichiji II is seated at a higher level as if on display on a tiered stand, a nazo nazo (riddle) inscribed above:

Sanogawa Ichimatsu Segawa Kichiji to kakete / Hinaningyo no hakoiri to toku / kokoro wa jochu ga mitagaru
'Women are attracted by Sanogawa and Segawa and in their hearts would like to take them home and put them amongst their dolls'

publisher's mark of Urokogataya Magobei, signed Ishikawa Shuha Toyonobu zu with seals Ishikawa Uji and Toyonobu

Apparently an unrecorded print

Condition Note: Very fine impression, areas of wormage, laid-down

benizuri-e: 43.3 by 31.1cm., 17 1/8 by 12 1/4 in.

Wakai Kenzaburo (1834-1908)
Hayashi Tadamasa (1854-1906)

Original handwritten notes on mount, acheté à Yamanaka, Londres, 16-6-09