28
Morita Kanya VIII in the rôle of the sedan chair or palanquin (kago) bearer Uguisu no Jirōsaku, or Jirōsaku the Bush-warbler, who presumably played opposite Gorōhachi, the little Cuckoo, referred to under number 26.
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in that exhibition of which the third volume of the Vignier-Inada Catalogue is the monumental record, showed two impressions of this subject but reproduced only, though in full color, the one that was in the color scheme of the print now being catalogued. It is unfortunate that financial limitations and the cost of printing in America prevent our reproducing color-prints as they should be reproduced—in color; and for those who see merely this catalogue and not the exhibition, we can say only that the print here shown is mainly in blue and purple though there are impressions mainly in green. Variations in line, however, are what really count in the determination of second states, and although the blocks for the print exhibited were very carefully cut there are impressions in which a less careful cutting and perhaps a greater freedom of brush-work seem to be apparent. We do not consider the differences of sufficient importance to warrant exhibition of both of the so-called states, and call attention merely to reproductions in the volumes to which this catalogue usually refer—Rumpf number 6, Vignier-Inada Catalogue, number 268 bis, Kurth, Nakata and Noguchi.
Ōban. Dark mica ground. Signed: Tōshūsai Sharaku.
Ledoux Collection.
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