Rug

Russia

About 1840

  • Titles Rug (Descriptive)
  • Medium wool
  • Dimensions 60 x 46 in. (152.4 x 116.8 cm)
  • Credit Line Gift of Coleman Cooper, Palm Beach, Florida, 1985.237
  • Work Type rug
  • Classification Rugs

See More of the Collection

Ichikawa Ebizô V here plays the male role dressed in the grey robes of a Buddhist priest with a long green head-covering. It is common for memorial portraits to have some Buddhist content as a blessing for their afterlife. Arashi Koroku V plays a female role, offering up a large yellow tree peony in a blue-and-white vase—this may be a reference to a wish that Ichikawa Ebizô V attains life in the Buddhist pure land of Amitabha in addition to a reference of a play they performed together. Fans purchased portraits of their favorite actors in a wide variety of roles as well as their memorial portraits. Numerous memorial portraits of Ichikawa Ebizô V survive, as well as more than one portrait brushed by this artist, Utagawa Kunisada. The financial gains of both publishers and artists by selling such fan portraits greatly assisted the fluorescence of Japanese prints of many styles and topics.
Bowl with notched rim and molded cloud design.
Bush, Tree and Sparrows, Yuan Tongxuan, China, ink and color on paper
Birth of Buddha, China, clay, pigment, gold