Selection for the Twelve Signs
(Mitate jûnishi no uchi, 見立十二支の内)
Publisher: Kakumoto-ya Kinjirô
1852
The
Buddhist zodiac consists of twelve animals–rat, bull (or ox), tiger, hare,
dragon, serpent, horse, goat, monkey, cock, dog and boar. There is a story that only these twelve
animals came when called by Buddha, and this is the order in which they
came. These animals, including the rat
and serpent, have a better reputation in Buddhist countries than in the West. In this series of prints, a large bust portrait
of an actor in character is combined with a smaller full-length portrait of
another actor from the same play. Tiny
images of the appropriate animal of the zodiac surround an irregularly shaped
title cartouche in the right upper corner of ten of the twelve prints. This series is listed as number 192 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson
(Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961).
The prints are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size
known as ôban.
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Sign: Rat
(子) Foreground bust: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Nikki Danjô (仁木弾正) Smaller figure: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Arajishi Otokonosuke (荒獅子男之介) Play: Date kurabe Okuni kabuki (伊達競阿国戯場) |
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Sign: Ox (丑) Foreground bust: actor as Kume no Heiemon
(粂の平内左衛門) in the dress of incantation with candles on his
head, a mirror breastplate and a hammer (nails and a straw doll, although
usually part of incantation, are not shown) Smaller figure: actor as Yoshida Matsuwaka Maru (松若丸) Play: Koi (goro mo) Karigane zome (恋衣雁金染) |
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Sign:
Tiger (寅) Foreground bust: actor as Torafuji (虎蔵) Smaller figure: Actor as Torazô (鬼一) Play: Kiichi Hôgen sanryaku no maki |
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Sign: Hare
(卯) Foreground bust: Bandô Shuka I
as Kosan the bathhouse girl (小さん) holding a letter Smaller figure: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Omatsuri Kingorô (金五郎) Play: Chikai Musubi ukina no Tategaku (盟結艶立額) |
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Sign:
Dragon (辰) Foreground bust: actor Segawa Kikunojô
V (who died in 1832) as Ohatsu Smaller figure: actor Bandô Mitsugorô
Play: Ohatsu Tokubei, a
tale of doomed lovers |
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Sign:
Snake (巳) Foreground bust: Ichikawa Kodanji as Karaki
Masaemon (唐木政右エ門) Smaller figure: Kataoka Ichizô
as Sawai Matagorô (沢井又五郎) Play: Sono umayagi Sagara no Kikigaki (Things
heard along the Highway to Sagara) |
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Sign:
Horse (午) Foreground bust: Bandô Shuka I
as Yoshikado’s sister Takiyasha
holding a naginata
Smaller figure: Play: Azuma dairi hana mo Yoshikado |
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Sign: Goat
(未) Foreground bust: Onoe Kikujirô
II as courtesan Akoya (阿古屋) Smaller figure: Onoe Tamizô II
as Iwanaga Saemon Munetsura (岩永宗連) by a brazier Play: Dan no Ura kabuto Gunki |
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Sign:
Monkey (申) Foreground bust: Iwai Hanshirô V as the nun Seigen (清玄尼) Smaller figure: Onoe Kikugorô Play: Onna Seigen |
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Sign: Cock
(酉) Foreground bust: Smaller figure: actor as the Buddhist deity Fudô Myô-ô in front the Nachi Waterfall Play: A number of plays were derived from the story of Mongaku Shônin. He is shown here seeing the Buddhist deity Fudô Myô-ô while reciting
prayers under the icy waterfall of Nachi in penance
for accidentally killing his lover, Kesa-gozen. |
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Sign: Dog
(戌) Foreground bust: actor Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Kamiya Iemon (神谷伊右エ門) Smaller figure: actor Ichikawa Hirogorô as Akiyama Chobei (秋山長兵衛) |
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Sign: Boar
(亥) Foreground bust: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as the artist Ukiyo
Inosuke (亥之助) holding a brush Smaller figure: Play: Nobori goi taki no Shirahata |
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This is
one of several series of prints Kuniyoshi designed consisting of bust
portraits with irregularly shaped cartouches in the right upper corner. In each of these series, the cartouche is
bordered by small pictures. The table
below shows a typical cartouche from each of these series as well as the script within the cartouche that
identifies the series. The color of
the cartouches is not a reliable guide to identifying the series, as it may
vary with successive printings.
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