One Hundred Roles of Baikō, complete series bound in album
Artist
Toyohara Kunichika
(Japanese, 1835 - 1900)
Depicted
Onoe Kikugorō V
Date1893
PeriodMeiji period (1868–1912)
MediumAlbum of woodblock prints (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper with mica
DimensionsOverall: 14 1/8 × 9 3/4 × 3/4 in. (35.9 × 24.8 × 1.9 cm)
Sheet (Each): 14 1/16 × 9 11/16 in. (35.7 × 24.6 cm)
Sheet (Each): 14 1/16 × 9 11/16 in. (35.7 × 24.6 cm)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineGift of Dr. Sheldon Z. Baldinger and his wife Elenore, 2019
Object numberSN11653.1
Equally compelling in male and female roles, Onoe Kikugorō V (1844–1903), also known as Baikō, was the foremost actor of domestic dramas or sewamono during the Meiji period (1868–1912). In the late 1870s, Baikō asked the playwright Kawatake Mokuami (1838–1903) to write new plays that explicitly referenced Japan’s rapidly modernizing society. These were called zangirimono, or “cropped-hair plays,” because of the fashionable Western-style hairdos sported by the actors.
This concertina-bound album contains a complete set of one hundred prints depicting Baikō in conventional and zangirimono roles by the prolific print designer Toyohara Kunichika. The smaller image in the upper register represents another actor performing in the play.
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