Selection for the Twelve Signs
(Mitate jūnishi no uchi, 見立十二支の内)
Publisher: Kakumoto-ya Kinjirō
1852
The
Buddhist zodiac consists of twelve animalsrat, 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 ōban. |
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Sign: Rat (子) Foreground bust: Ichikawa Ebizō V as Nikki Danjō (仁木弾正) Smaller figure: Ichikawa
Danjūrō 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 Torazō (鬼一) Play: Kiichi Hōgen sanryaku no maki |
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Sign: Hare (卯) Foreground bust: Bandō Shuka I as Kosan the bathhouse girl (小さん) holding a
letter Smaller figure: Ichikawa
Danjūrō VIII as Omatsuri Kingorō
(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 Kikunojō V (who died in
1832) as Ohatsu Smaller figure: actor Bandō Mitsugorō 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 Ichizō as Sawai Matagorō (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: Bandō Shuka I as Yoshikados
sister Takiyasha holding a naginata Smaller figure: Play: Azuma dairi hana mo Yoshikado |
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Sign: Goat (未) Foreground bust: Onoe Kikujirō II as courtesan
Akoya (阿古屋) Smaller figure: Onoe Tamizō 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 Hanshirō V as the nun Seigen (清玄尼) Smaller figure: Onoe Kikugorō Play: Onna Seigen |
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Sign: Cock (酉) Foreground bust: Ichikawa
Danjūrō VIII as Tsunagorō (綱五郎) pulling a
rope Smaller figure: Fudos
acolyte, Seitaka Doji Play: Genji Moyō furisada hinagata NOTE: Tsunagorōs
life is being saved by the Buddhist deity Fudō Myō-ō, who holds the other end of the rope. |
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Another state of the above design
without any green |
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Sign: Dog (戌) Foreground bust: actor
Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII as Kamiya Iemon
(神谷伊右エ門) Smaller figure: actor
Ichikawa Hirogorō as Akiyama Chobei
(秋山長兵衛) |
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Sign: Boar (亥) Foreground bust: Ichikawa
Danjūrō 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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