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Matsumoto Kōshirō IV as Magoyemon, the father of Chūbei.
For another portrait of him in the same role and the same costume see the preceding number.
His coat is soft reddish lilac; his kimono pale blue, now faded, with brownish red and white checks; the lining of the kimono and the under robe are yellow and the tobacco pouch is bright rose.
We place this print separately in spite of strong temptation to consider it the left-hand sheet of a triptych with the two that follow forming the other portions. Magoyemon’s posture, and particularly the downward direction of his gaze would indicate that placing, but it is decidedly unusual to have one character in a triptych of a different sex from the other two and not in the center of the composition; and furthermore we doubt if the old gentleman was present in the tea-house when the story of his son’s theft was being told.
This beautiful print is thought to be the only surviving impression of the subject, and as it was unknown to the authors of the Vignier-Inada Catalogue and to Rumpf, it has not been described or reproduced hitherto.
Hosoye. Yellow ground. Signed: Tōshūsai Sharaku.
The Art Institute of Chicago (Buckingham Collection).
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