Comments - Interesting scene from a kabuki play about the pawnshop apprentice Hisamatsu, who falls in love with his master's daughter, the beautiful Osome. They must keep their relationship a secret because Osome is already engaged to another man. Here, the pair is visiting with an elderly man at his home in the country. He smokes a pipe as he looks up at Hisamatsu with a frown. His white hair and eyebrows are delicately embossed, and he carries a tobacco set in his other hand. A woman emerges from the doorway curtains at right, tucking something into the front of her kimono. Osome waits at the garden gate, dressed in a fine black kimono patterned with cherry blossoms. The home is rather shabby, with cracks in the walls and tears in the shoji window, but the curtains hanging in the doorway feature a colorful tie-dyed pattern, the slits trimmed with red bows. Fields spread out into the distance, and a blossoming plum tree frames the view. Bando Kakitsu II appears as Hisamatsu, and Nakamura Fukusuke IV as Osome of the Aburaya. Nicely detailed and attractively colored.

Artist - Kunisada III (1848 - 1920)

Image Size - 13 3/4" x 28"

Condition - This print with excellent color and detail as shown. Three attached panels. Small loss at edge, a few holes, repaired. Slight toning and soiling, a few creases, slight curling at sides. Please see photos for details. Good overall.