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A Housewife (Okamisan), from the series Short Comic Stories by the Rakugo Master Sanshôtei Karaku (Ichibu senkô sokuseki banashi, Sanshôtei Karaku)


「一歩線香即席噺 三笑亭可楽」 「おかみさん」
Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786–1864)
Publisher: Yamaguchiya Tôbei (Kinkôdô) (Japanese)
Japanese
Edo period
1820s

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical ôban; 36.6 x 25.2 cm (14 7/16 x 9 15/16 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.15548
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

DescriptionSanshôtei Karaku I (1777-1833) was one of the first rakugo performers (comic storytellers) and the founder of a line that continues to the present day. "Ichibu senkô sokuseki banashi," a story short enough to be told while one stick of temple incense burned, was the first kind of story taught to aspiring rakugo artists. In this series title, however, the term is written with the character for "one step" rather than "one stick."
Signed Gototei Kunisada ga
五渡亭国貞画
Marks No censor's seal
改印:なし
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 - d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: August 3, 1911)

NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.