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Shibaraku (暫く) Designer: Utagawa Kunimasa | Carver: David Bull | Printer: Teiko Fujii Paper size: 15cm by 11cm | Enlargement | Shipping Code: [HC] ? ( Change currency: $ / £ / € ) Price: $ 40.00£ 32.25€ 36.75   Description: This print was included by David in his original Hanga Treasure Chest, published back in 2005. That set is now (nearly) out of print, so the blocks are being used to make issues for the Mokuhankan catalogue. The impressions we now have available of this print are among the initial issues from Ms. Teiko Fujii, who began training as a printer here at Mokuhankan in the spring of 2012. A couple of posts over on the Mokuhankan Conversations blog followed the progress of this print [here] and [here] To introduce the design, perhaps it is easiest to quote the small story written by David for inclusion with the print in the Treasure Chest series: "Just a minute!!" One of the most dramatic moments in the entire kabuki repertoire; as the loud voice rings out from the hana-michi walkway in the middle of the auditorium, all eyes turn to see the actor who has just entered. "As always with this role, it will be a member of the Ichikawa clan - in this case Ichikawa Ebizo, performing in 1796. He strikes an incredibly theatrical pose, his face drawn into an exaggerated scowl and his angular and voluminous clothing creating the most wonderful dramatic effect. "So much of that wonderful scene is packed into the tiny rectangle of this print; the samurai-eboshi headgear, the sujikuma vermillion makeup, and even his armored breast-plate. But dominating the image, as it must dominate the scene in the auditorium, is the famous Ichikawa family crest emblazoned on his hugely oversized sleeves - the three nested sake cups on rust-brown fabric. "We instantly know who this is, and what is about to happen - the bad guys are about to be put to rout. There is no scene in any theatre in the world more cliched than this, and none that is more eagerly anticipated by the audience. "The man who designed this print was Utagawa Kunimasa, and in my view, it is astonishing to think that this was created more than 200 years ago - it looks 'modern' enough to have been drawn just yesterday. What an incredible impact prints like this must have made when they first started arriving in Europe! "It has been twenty-five years since I first set foot in Japan, but I have yet to visit the kabuki theatre. In this I am not particularly unusual - I am sure that many, perhaps most, Japanese have never been either. I suppose that somewhere along the line, I will get a chance to go, and I suspect that when I do, I will feel right at home; after all, one can't be involved with making Japanese prints for twenty-five years without developing some kind of understanding of kabuki, just by osmosis!"  Browse thumbnail pages of various selections from the catalogue ... Mokuhankan Publications:general (104) kacho-e (27) landscape (54) bijin-ga (19) contemporary (17) senshafuda (2) yakusha-e (4) HangaClub (70) ebook (6) miscellaneous (4) 8 Cats (4) supplies (6) [ Also see our Annual Gift Page ] Partner Shops: Kawase Hasui prints (13) Yoshida family prints (48) Doi Hanga prints (54) Miyakodori prints (5) Numabe Mokuhan prints (3) Guest items (17) Mokuhankan Flea Market (All items) general (73) kacho-e (33) yakusha-e (25) landscape (119) bijin-ga (107) kuchi-e (0) contemporary (4) set (42) books (3) (Recently sold items) |
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