Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) / Toyokuni III (三代豊国) (artist 1786 – 01/12/1865)
Tiger Lily of Suzuka (Suzuka no oniyuri - すゞかの鬼百合): Ichikawa Kodanji IV (市川小団次) as Tennichibō Hōsaku (天日坊法策) from the series Popular Matches for Thirty-six Selected Flowers (Tōsei mitate sanjūroku kasen - 当盛見立三十六花撰)
04/1862
9.25 in x 13.75 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese color woodblock print
Signed: Kiō Toyokuni ga
(old man Toyokuni drew this picture - 喜翁豊国画)
Publisher: Hiranoya Shinzō (Marks 114 - seal 24-090)
Carver: Yokokawa Takejirō (横川彫武)
Date seal: 1862, 4th month
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (gray ground)
British Museum (red ground)
Tokyo Metropolitan Library (gray ground)
National Diet Library
Japan Arts Council
University of Michigan
Hankyu Culture Foundation
Victoria and Albert Museum - listed as being by Kunisada II The flower near the title cartouche is an oniyuri or tiger lily - literally demon lily and the picture below represents the priest , Tennichi-bo holding an oni-mask (demon-mask).
Note that this character's name is sometimes spelled with one 'en' and sometimes with two.
There are at least two different editions of this series. Despite the title there appear to be at least 39 prints in this set. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston say there are 36 plus a title page.
****
Tennichibō Hōsaku is a character in a play by the 19th century modernist kabuki writer Kawatake Mokuami (河竹黙阿弥: 1816-93). However, this role appeared much earlier in pre-Mokuami scripting. In fact, this print pre-dates Mokuami's play, Tenichibō, by about 13 or 14 years.
The historical basis for this play
Based on an actual event in which Tennichibō Hōsaku claimed to be the bastard child of the shogun Yoritomo. The play is a tale of his trials and tribulations. "One of several dramas based on the 1729 incident in which a mountain priest (yamabushi) named Genjibō Tenichi, from Shinagawa, came to Edo claiming to the be the illegitimate son of the benevolent eighth Tokugawa shōgun, Yoshimune. He supported his claims with money gathered from various rōnin, but he was investigated by magistrate Ina Hanzaemon, who determined that he was a fraud and had him executed."
Quoted from: New Kabuki Encyclopedia: A Revised Adaptation of Kabuki Jiten by Samuel L. Leiter, Greenwood Press, 1997, page 486.
The theatrical take on this story
"Osan Babâ, an old lady of Katada no Ura in Kishû, had a daughter who was loved by Yoshimune in his youth, and who became pregnant as a result of their liaison. However, the daughter and her offspring both died, although Yoshimune's sword and a document in his handwriting was in the daughter's possession. Hȏtaku, a handsome young priestling studying under Keiȏ In, learns of this, kills the old woman, poisons his master, lays the blame on a servant named Kyûsuke, and goes to Edo to claim that he Yoshimune's son, Tenichibȏ, using the items mentioned as his proof."
"The Minami-chȏ magistrate, Ôoka Echizen no Kami, suspects that this is a lie, but lacks evidence. The rȏnin military strategist Sannai Igaryȏ, whom Tenichibȏ has obtained as an accomplice, argues brilliantly on behalf of the priest's claims (in a debate scene called "Ajiro no Mondo" after the ajiro or wickerwork pattern. of the priest's palanquin). Ôoka promises the shȏgun that he will kill himself if he cannot obtain proof within ten days, and dispatches Yoshida Sangorȏ and Hiraishi Jiemon to Kishû to search for the facts. A frantic investigation leads to their return with Kyûsuke just as Ôoka prepares to take his life before his son Tadaemon, and his wife Otaku. Tenichbȏ's crime is proved." (Ibid.)
****
There is at least one other print in the Lyon Collection published by Hiranoya Shinzō. See #762.
****
The curatorial files at the University of Michigan say: "These prints are two from a series that compared thirty-six popular actors to flowers. Like in many series printed in the Edo period, the use of thirty-six comparisons references the thirty-six poet immortals. The poet immortals were a set of illustrious historical figures prized for their poetic ability."
Ichikawa Kodanji IV (四代目市川小団次: spring 1844 to 5/1866) (actor)
Hiranoya Shinzō (平野屋新蔵) (publisher)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
mitate-e (見立て絵) (genre)
Yokokawa Takejirō (横川彫武) (carver)