Skip to main content

Visit Main Menu Block

  • Hours & Admission
  • Accessibility & Amenities
  • Tours & Group Visits
  • Visitor Guidelines

Exhibitions and Events Main Menu Block

  • Exhibitions
  • Events

Art and Design Main Menu Block

  • Collection
  • Collection Research
  • Past Exhibitions
  • Watch / Listen / Read

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Image

Image with id "PQAWu" not found, published, or embeddable.

Tōshūsai Sharaku

Actor Matsumoto Kōshirō IV as the fishmonger Gorōbei from San'ya

Description

Maker

Tōshūsai Sharaku (Japanese)
Tsutaya Jūzaburō 蔦屋重三郎 (Japanese, 1750 - 1797), publisher

Title

Actor Matsumoto Kōshirō IV as the fishmonger Gorōbei from San'ya

Period

Edo Period

Year

1794

Medium

  • Polychrome wood block print with dark-silver mica ground

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Polychrome wood block print with dark-silver mica ground

Materials

mica (mineral), ink and color

Supports

  • paper

Geography

Place Made: Japan

Dimensions

Vertical ōban: 36.5 x 24.1 cm (14 3/8 x 9 1/2 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signature: Signed: Toshusai Sharaku ga
Publisher's seal

Seals: Censor's seal:Kiwame

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

20.1132

Type

  • Prints

Projects & Publications

Publications

  • Books

A Handbook of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Process and Function
Traditional Japanese Printmaking Technique
Jan 19, 2007 – May 27, 2007

Label copy

Not only is this print an example of full polychrome woodblock printing, but its intense mica ground, first used by Sharaku for his innovative portraits of actors in close-up views, is a technical accomplishment that exemplifies the Japanese woodblock artist's continual search for new methods and techniques.

Courtesans and Actors
Popular Culture in Edo Period Japan
Sep 20, 1996 – Dec 08, 1996
Kabuki Actor Prints from the Late Eighteenth Century
Sep 14, 1990 – Nov 04, 1990
On Stage
Japanese Theater Prints
May 13, 1988 – Sep 04, 1988
Japanese Prints of the Kabuki
Sep 05, 1986 – Nov 23, 1986

Use & Feedback

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Tōshūsai Sharaku (Japanese)
Tsutaya Jūzaburō 蔦屋重三郎 (Japanese, 1750 - 1797), publisher
Actor Matsumoto Kōshirō IV as the fishmonger Gorōbei from San'ya, 1794
Polychrome wood block print with dark-silver mica ground
Vertical ōban: 36.5 x 24.1 cm (14 3/8 x 9 1/2 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke 20.1132

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

RISD Museum

  •  Facebook
  •  Twitter
  •  Instagram
  •  Vimeo
  •  Pinterest
  •  SoundCloud

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Footer Secondary

  • Image Request
  • Press Office
  • Rent the Museum
  • Terms of Use