Actors’ Caricatures Scribbled on Walls

Publisher: Iba-ya Sensaburô

1847-1848

Kuniyoshi produced only two triptychs and one diptych in this genre. One triptych is titled “Laughing Actors Scribbled on a Wall”, while the diptych and the other triptych are titled “Scribblings on the Storehouse Wall”. The word nitakaragura in the title is a pun on the words nita kara, meaning “Don’t they resemble them?” These prints are listed as numbers 179 and 182 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961). Each panel is about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.

Title: Laughing White Faces Scribbled on a Wall (Hakumenshô kabe no mudagaki, 白面笑壁のむだ書)

Date: 1848

Key:

1. Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII 2. Nakayama Bungorô II 3. Bandô Shûka 4. Bandô Mitsugorô IV 5. Ichikawa Kodanji IV 6. Ichimura Uzaemon XII	1. Nakamura Utaemon IV 2. Nakayama Genjûrô 3. Onoe Kikujirô II 4. Iwai Kumesaburô III 5. Seki Sanjûrô III 6. Ichikawa Kuzô II	1. Sawamura Sôjûrô V 2. Ôtani Tomoemon IV 3. Onoe Tamizô II 4. Matsumoto Kôshirô VI 5. Onoe Baikô IV (Kikugorô IV) 6. Ôtani Hiroemon V

Title: Scribblings on the Storehouse Wall (Nitakaragura kabe no mudagaki, 荷宝蔵壁のむだ書)

Date: 1847-1848 (censors Hama and Kinugasa)

Key:

1. Bandô Sajûrô 2. Ichikawa Dannosuke V 3. Nakamura Tsuruzô 4. Nakamura Kantarô 5. Sawamura Ujûrô 6. Nakamura Kanemon 7. Ichikawa Hakoemon 8. Ichikawa Hirogorô 9. Kataoka Toragorô	1. Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Tsukimoto Inaba Kôsuke in the play Onoe Baiju ichidai banashi 2. Matsumoto Kôshirô VI as Yokogawa Kakuha in Yoshitsune senbon sakura 3. Nakamura Utaemon IV as Satô Tadanobu Kakuha in Yoshitsune senbon sakura 4. Ichikawa Shinsha 5. Sawamura Ujûrô Jagatara Sanzô in the play Sawamura saki hakata no hanabishi 6. Bandô Shûka	1. Seki Sanjûrô III 2. Onoe Baikô IV (Kikugorô IV) as Hanazono in the play Saitô Tarôzaemon 3. Sawamura Sôjûrô V as Seishichi, an assistant in a furniture shop in the play Onoe Baiju ichidai banashi 4. Osagawa Tsuneyo IV 5. Nakayama Genjûrô 6. Ôtani Hiroemon V

NOTE: This famous triptych is known as “the dancing cat triptych”, and its central panel is known as “the dancing cat print”.

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this sheet from another state of the above triptych with the scribbling in black.

Title: Scribblings on the Storehouse Wall (Nitakaragura kabe no mudagaki, 荷宝蔵壁のむだ書)

Date: 1847-1848 (censors Hama and Kinugasa)

Key:

1. Bandô Hikosaburô IV 2. Fujikawa Kayû III (probably) 3. Bandô Mitsugorô IV 4. Onoe Matsusuke III 5. Ôtani Tomoemon IV 6. Nakamura Gennosuke II 7. Azuma Tôzô V	1. Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Fuwa Banzaemon in the play Mukashi katari inazuma chô 2. Ichikawa Kuzô II as Yoshitsune in the play Yoshitsune senbon zakura 3. Iwai Kumesaburô III as Osome in the michiyuki of the play Ukina no hatsudori 4. Nakayama Bungorô II 5. Onoe Kikujirô II 6. Onoe Tamizô II as Iwanaga Saemon in Dannoura kabuto gunki

This 1867 ôban diptych by Kuniyoshi’s student Toyohara Kunichika is titled Various Scribblings on the Storehouse Wall (Kabe no mudagaki iroiro, 壁のむだ書いろいろ). It is Kunichika’s homage to Kuniyoshi, with the latter’s famous series updated to include contemporary actors.

For comparison, this is The Italians by Cy Twombly (1928-2011). Mr. Twombly has been well known in contemporary art circles since the 1960s, and The Menil Collection in Houston, Texas has an entire building devoted to his art.

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