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The Actor Ōtani Tokuji I as the Retainer Sodesuke

1794, fifth month
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
This is one of eleven extraordinary portraits on mica background commemorating actors in Flowering Irises: A Soga Vendetta of the Bunroku Era (Hana ayame: Bunroku Soga), performed in the fifth month (when irises bloom) of 1794, at the Miyako Theater in Edo. The vendetta play is based on a twelfth-century tale about the Ishii brothers, who plan for decades to avenge the death of their murdered father. The firmly clenched fist, tight-lipped mouth, and hopeful gaze of the actor Ōtani Tokuji I (1756–1807) as Sodesuke, a manservant in the retinue of the brothers, express the character’s loyalty and determination. By spring of the next year, for reasons not clear, Sharaku retired from ukiyo-e design, after only a little more than ten months of activity.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 東洲斎写楽画　初代大谷徳次の奴袖助
  • Title: The Actor Ōtani Tokuji I as the Retainer Sodesuke
  • Artist: Tōshūsai Sharaku (Japanese, active 1794–95)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: 1794, fifth month
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink, color, and mica on paper; vertical ōban
  • Dimensions: Frame: 20 1/16 × 15 1/4 in. (51 × 38.7 cm)
    Image: 14 1/4 × 9 5/8 in. (36.2 × 24.4 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Lent by Lee E. Dirks
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art