Kabuki performance of "Chiarini's Celebrated Circus"
Artist
Utagawa Kunimasa IV
(Japanese, 1848 – 1920)
DateNovember 1886
PeriodMeiji period (1868–1912)
MediumTriptych of woodblock prints (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
DimensionsOverall: 14 3/16 × 28 1/2 in. (36 × 72.4 cm)
Frame: 22 3/16 × 36 1/4 × 1 in. (56.3 × 92 × 2.5 cm)
Sheet (Left): 14 3/16 × 9 13/16 in. (36 × 25 cm)
Sheet (Center): 14 5/16 × 9 5/8 in. (36.3 × 24.5 cm)
Sheet (Right): 14 5/16 × 9 11/16 in. (36.3 × 24.7 cm)
Matt: 19 15/16 × 34 1/8 in. (50.7 × 86.7 cm)
Frame: 22 3/16 × 36 1/4 × 1 in. (56.3 × 92 × 2.5 cm)
Sheet (Left): 14 3/16 × 9 13/16 in. (36 × 25 cm)
Sheet (Center): 14 5/16 × 9 5/8 in. (36.3 × 24.5 cm)
Sheet (Right): 14 5/16 × 9 11/16 in. (36.3 × 24.7 cm)
Matt: 19 15/16 × 34 1/8 in. (50.7 × 86.7 cm)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineMuseum purchase, 2020
Object number2020.14
In September 1886, Giuseppe Chiarini's Royal Italian Circus, one of the most influential 19th century circuses, travelled to Japan and performed in Yokohama, Nagasaki, Kobe, Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo, where they were the first company to perform for the Meiji Emperor.
This print takes as it subject not the circus itself, but rather one of a number of "overnight pickle plays" (ichiyazuke kyogen)”, kabuki productions that responded rapidly to contemporary events. The actor Onoe Kikugorō V is shown as the ringmaster Chiarini (Charine) at center and as “One Legged Man” (ippon ashi) at left, Nakamura Dengorō III as a clown (dōkeshi), Onoe Matsusuke as the announcer (kōjōi), Onoe Eijirō as an assistant (atomi) at right, and the orchestra behind him.
On View
Not on view
