68
Onoye Matsusuke I as the Namazu-bōzu (catfish priest) Magoroku Nyūdō.
This is the second print that we have been able to add to the previously known works of Sharaku. It is the left-hand sheet of a diptych representing an interpolated dance performed by Matsusuke who is shown here, and Hanshirō who appears opposite to him in the following number. The account of this dance in the contemporary Yakusha Ninsō Kagami states that Matsusuke was particularly amusing in it.
The white rats in the costume are on yellow tiles. The rice bales are yellow and black. The bottle is yellow. The other colors have faded but the ground of the over-mantle seems once to have been purple with the under garments in tones of rose and pink.
We would note that this print is the first to be catalogued of those in which the background is neither yellow nor gray but is the natural tone of the paper, and without decoration.
Hosoye. Untinted ground. Signed: Tōshūsai Sharaku.
Museum of Fine Arts (Bigelow Collection).
69
Iwai Hanshirō IV as O-Hina (Miss Doll), bearing a pilgrim’s hat and staff.
In order to dance opposite Matsusuke, who was garbed as a priest in an interpolated jōruri episode, Hanshirō has here assumed temporarily some of the attributes of a pilgrim. The description of this dance quoted under the preceding number from the Yakusha Ninsō Kagami enables
188
