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Iris (Shôbu): Actors Bandô Muraemon I and Iwai Kumesaburô III, from the series Selection of Ten Flowers Currently in Full Bloom (Tôsei jukkasen)


「当盛十花撰 菖蒲」 初代坂東村右衛門、三代目岩井粂三郎
Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786–1864)
Utagawa Hiroshige I (Japanese, 1797–1858)
Publisher: Ebisuya Shôshichi (Kinshôdô) (Japanese)
Japanese
Edo period
1854 (Kaei 7/Ansei 1), 6th month

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical ôban; 36.5 x 25 cm (14 3/8 x 9 13/16 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.42318
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

Catalogue Raisonné Kurahashi, "Kunisada no yakusha sentaku," Ukiyo-e Art 170 (2015), fig. 2-1 (11.45295)
DescriptionMFA impressions: 11.42318, 11.45295 (second series only)

From a series first issued in 1854, in six sheets, under the title "Six Flowers...," and reissued in 1858 with four additional designs, under the title "Ten Flowers..." For the sheets already published, the censor's seals remain the same in the second edition; but the series title and some of the actors' faces are changed.
(見立)
Signed Toyokuni ga, in toshidama cartouche (foreground); Hiroshige hitsu (background)
豊国画(年玉枠)、広重筆
Marks Censor's seals: aratame, Tiger 6
No blockcutter's mark
改印:改、寅六
彫師: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: January 19, 2005)

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.