TOYOKUNI. Yakusha-e. Kabuki Theater scene. Courtesans... Lot 160

TOYOKUNI. Yakusha-e. Kabuki Theater scene. Courtesans arguing. Colored woodcut. Diptych. 370x500 ca. Sign: "Gototei Kunisada ga." Publisher: Yamaguchiya Tobei. Censored by Kiwame. Excellent impression, rubbed and soiled. Segawa Kikunojo and Iwai Kumesaburo as courtesans arguing. Yakusha-e, often referred to as "actor prints" in English, are Japanese woodblock prints of kabuk actors, particularly those done in the ukiyo-e style popular through the Edo period (1603-1867). Utagawa Kunisada, also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III, Edo, 1786-1865, was one of the most famous Ukiyo-e woodblock print designers of 19th century Japan. He was the head of one of the most important Japanese woodblock printing schools, the Utagawa School.