The Actor Segawa Michinosuke in a Female Role

Date1804

Maker Utagawa Kunihisa Japanese, active early 19th century

Label TextIn this work, celebrated onnagata Segawa Michinosuke assumes the role of a so-called "castle-toppler," a euphemism for a courtesan whose beauty was so great it could bring down empires. The back view emphasizes the full brilliance of the actor's stunning plum-colored kimono, shrugged off both shoulders and fanned out at the hem, artfully arranged for full dramatic effect.

Object number2014.32.7

Provenance[Peter Gilder, Arts and Designs of Japan, San Francisco, California]; purchased from gallery by Allan Kollar, Seattle, Washington, 1989; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2014

Photo CreditPhoto: Susan Cole

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, SAM at 75: Building a Collection for Seattle, May 5 - Sept. 9, 2007. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Fleeting Beauty: Japanese Woodblock Prints, Apr. 1 - July 4, 2010. Text by Catherine Roche. Cat. no. 40, reproduced p. 63. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Renegade Edo: Japanese Prints and Toulouse-Lautrec, July 21 - Dec. 3, 2023. Text by Xiaojin Wu. No cat. no., pp. 50, 101, reproduced pl. 19.

Credit LineGift of Mary and Allan Kollar, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum

DimensionsFramed: 14 1/2 x 10 in. (36.8 x 25.4 cm)

MediumWoodblock print; ink and color on paper