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Nakamura Nakazō II as Prince Koretaka disguised. The exact action of the play is not known, but this part of it seems to be developed from an episode in the Ise Monogatari, which has to do with the rivalry of the Imperial Princes Koretaka and Korehito. The Yakusha Ninsō Kagami gives extravagant praise to Nakazō’s acting of the rôle, especially in the scene where he doffs the disguise shown in this print and the next, takes off his hat, pulls the strings of his sleeves, and appears clad as befits his station.
Here the under kimono seen above the waist is a faded rose decorated with Nakazō’s personal mon in yellow. The kimono shown worn as a skirt probably once was blue, but is now a dull straw color. The bundle is a faded orange, the tree and background are yellow.
This print is another of those which we are able to add to the previously recorded works of Sharaku. No other impression is known.
The undulating line of the foreground, the branches above and the delicate printing on the skirt and in the cherry design on the bundle, all suggest some connection with the two preceding prints, numbers 106 and 107. It seems, however, impossible to arrange the three satisfactorily together as a triptych.
Hosoye. Slightly grayish ground with branches above. Signed: Sharaku.
Museum of Fine Arts (Bigelow Collection).
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