Modern Select Dolls, Part I
(Tôsei mitate ningyô no uchi, 當盛見立人形之内)
1855-1856
This
group of prints illustrates carved groups of “dolls” displayed at |
Title: Modern Select Dolls (Tôsei mitate ningyô
no uchi, 當盛見立人形之内), The Lonely
House (Hitotsuya no zu, 一ツ家之圖) Description: This ever popular story tells of a mad woman who ran a boarding
house where she killed and devoured young women until one of them was saved
by, the goddess of mercy (on the left). Date: 2nd
month of 1856 Publisher: Honmo (本茂) |
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Title: Lifelike
Dolls of the Hag of Hitotsuya at Adachigahar (風流人形の内 一ツ家の図 祐天上人) Description: The Hag of
Hitotsuya with her pregnant victim and goddess Kwannon Inset: The god Fudô
Myô-ô with the child Hotoro Date: 3rd month of 1856 Publisher: Jôshû-ya Juzô I am grateful to Hehe Galerie for this image. |
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Title: The Lonely House at Asajigahara
(Asajigahara hitotsuya
no zu, 浅芽原一ッ家之図) This triptych is another version of the same scene, which is
listed as T318 in Kuniyoshi: The
Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press,
Ithaca, NY, 1982). Date: March-April
1855 Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya
Tôbei |
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Title: Fashionable
Living Dolls (Fûyû ningyô, 風流人形) Description: This is a
close-up version of the same group of dolls Date: 2nd
month of 1856 Publisher: Daikoku-ya
Kinnosuke NOTE: The
individual sheets comprising this triptych are each about 10 by 7 inches (25
by 18 centimeters), a size known as chûban. |
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Title: The Lonely
House (Adachi-ga-hara hitotsuya no zu, 安達原一ツ家之圖) Description: The Hag of
the Lonely House with a female victim trussed up on the floor and an
apparition of the goddess Kwannon behind Date: 3rd
month of 1856 Publisher: Ômi-ya Kyûjirô NOTE: This diptych
is listed as T330 in Kuniyoshi: The
Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press,
Ithaca, NY, 1982). I am grateful to
Hehe Galerie for the image. |
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I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this alternate
state of the above diptych with blue in place of purple. |
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Title: Lifelike
Dolls of Sarutahiko, Uzume-no-Mikoto and the Hag of
Hitostuya at Adachigahara
(Fûryû ningyô Sarutahiko Ôgami
Uzume-no-Mikoto Adachigahara, 風流人形 さるたひこ大神 うすめのミこと あだちば) Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya
Tôbei |
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Title: Fashionable
Living Dolls (Fûryû iki ningyô, 風流生人形) Description: The deity Saruta-hiko
(right) holding a staff with one hand to his forehead, looks over at the
goddess Uzume (left), two other deities behind them. Date: 3rd
month of 1856 Publisher: Kazusa-ya
Iwazô |
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Title: Fashionable
Lifelike Dolls (Fûryû ningyô zukushi,
風流人形盡) Publisher: Hayashi-ya
Shôgorô Date: 2nd
month of 1856
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Here is a slightly different version of the same group of
dolls. This version was intended to be
viewed as individual prints since the backgrounds are not continuous. Title: Modern
Lifelike Dolls (Tôsei iki ningyô, 當盛生人形) Date: 2nd
month of 1856 Publisher: Ise-Yoshi Left-hand panel courtesy of John Rose and Auction Ukiyo-e Ltd. |
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I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this modern
reproduction. |
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I am grateful to Robert Pryor for locating these
preparatory drawing for the above triptychs. |
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Title: Lifelike
Dolls of Foreign Strangers and the Maruyama Courtesans Now on View at Okuyama
in Asakusa (浅草奥山 生人形) Publisher: Kamaya Kihei |
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Title: Lifelike
Dolls of Foreign Strangers and the Maruyama Courtesans Now on View at Okuyama
in Asakusa (浅草奥山生人形) Date: 5th
month of 1855 Publisher: Kamaya Kihei |
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Title: Living dolls
at Okuyama in Asakusa (Asakusa Okuyama
iki-ningyô, 浅草奥山生人形) Description: Foreigners
with long arms, long legs, and holes in their chests Date: 4th month of 1855 Publisher: Izutsu-ya
Shôkichi |
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Title: Description: The Maruyama
Courtesans Date: 4th month of 1855 Publisher: Izutsu-ya
Shôkichi |
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Title: Lifelike
Dolls of Three Beauties of China, India, and Japan (Ningyô no uchi to ten cho
san bijin,
人形之内 唐天朝 三美人) Description: The pipa player represents China (Tang, 唐), the sheng player represents India (Tenjiku, 天[篤]), and the koto player represents Japan (imperial court, 朝) Date: 3rd month of 1856 Publisher: Honmo I am grateful to Robert Pryor for information about this diptych. |
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Title: Modern Select
Dolls (Tôsei mitate ningyô
no uchi, 當盛見立人形之内), Kume the
Immortal (Kume no Sennin,
粂の仙人) Description: The Daoist
immortal Kume, who had the power of flight, fell–both literally and
spiritually–after staring at a partially exposed washerwoman Date: 2nd month of 1856 Publisher: Honmo (本茂) |
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Title: Lifelike Dolls of the God Sumiyoshi and Priest Yûten (風流人形尽 住吉大明神 祐天) Date: 3rd month
of 1856 Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei I am grateful to Hehe Galerie for this image. |
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Title: All Sorts of Lifelike Dolls (Tôsei
ningyô zukushi no uchi, 當世人形づくしの内) Description:
The god Fudô Myô-ô (不動明王) and priest Yûten (祐天) Date: 3rd month
of 1856 Publisher: Fujioka-ya Keijirô I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for
this image. |
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Title: 風流人形つくし びんつる おふくと美じん Date: 3rd month
of 1856 Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for this image. |
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Title: Picture of Refined
Dolls… (風流人形之内 びんづる うすめ命) Description: The goddess
Ame-no-Uzume dancing and the arhat Binzuru playing
a xylophone Date: 4th month of 1856 Publisher: Jôshû-ya Jûzô I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for
this image. |
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Title: Lifelike
Dolls in the Inner Temple at Asakusa (Asakusa
okuyama iki ningyô, 浅草奥山 生人形) Description: Tamatori-hime, the ama
who stole the sacred jewel, pursued through the waves by a great dragon and
various sea creatures Date: c. 1855-1856 Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei Robinson: T299a
(described but not assigned a number) NOTE: This is a
retitled reprint of a triptych originally titles “Tamatori-hime at the Dragon Palace”, which was published
in 1853. I am grateful to
Robert Pryor for locating this image. |
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