• Onoe Matsusuke II (尾上松助) as Soga Jurō Sukenari (曽我十郎祐成)
Onoe Matsusuke II (尾上松助) as Soga Jurō Sukenari (曽我十郎祐成)
Onoe Matsusuke II (尾上松助) as Soga Jurō Sukenari (曽我十郎祐成)
Onoe Matsusuke II (尾上松助) as Soga Jurō Sukenari (曽我十郎祐成)
Onoe Matsusuke II (尾上松助) as Soga Jurō Sukenari (曽我十郎祐成)
Onoe Matsusuke II (尾上松助) as Soga Jurō Sukenari (曽我十郎祐成)

Utagawa Toyokuni I (初代歌川豊国) (artist 1769 – 02/24/1825)

Onoe Matsusuke II (尾上松助) as Soga Jurō Sukenari (曽我十郎祐成)

Print


ca 1814
Signed: Toyokuni ga (豊国画)
Censor's seal: kiwame
Plovers and Butterflies

In a Roger Keyes article in Andon (Spring 1982), 'Plovers and Butterflies: The Soga Brothers in Japanese Prints', it says: "Soga no Jūrō Sukenari, the elder brother, is cast as a gentle, handsome youth. His emblem is a flock of flying chidori, or plovers... These birds often appear on the robe of his lover, the courtesan Ōiso no Tora, and are the means of identifying her role..."

If you click on the image of this print and enlarge it you will see that the pattern of flying plovers cover Soga Jurō's robes. In later prints of this character the chidori are often replaced by other birds, but the character remains the same. Butterflies were used to decorate the robes of Jurō's brother, Gorō.

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There is no publisher's seal visible. Matsusuke's robe is decorated with stylized birds, a common design used on the costumes of Soga Jurō Sukenari and a crest that can be found on many figures in plays devoted to the Soga brothers.
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Onoe Matsusuke II (二代目尾上松助: 11/1809 to 10/1814) (actor)
Soga brothers (曾我兄弟) (genre)