Act Six (Rokudanme), from the series Treasury of the Forty-Seven Loyal Retainers (Chushingura)

Date1801-02

Maker Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese, 1754 - 1806

Label TextIn this design, Utamaro shows a geisha tying her narrow sash, preparing to head out for the evening's appointment. Her manservant wraps her samisen box in a cloth, while a female attendant readies the lantern. These simple preparations are likened in the inset picture to a dramatic encounter in Chushingura, in which Okaru, betrothed to Kampei, one of the forty-seven loyal retainers, is forcibly taken away to become a teahouse waitress. Her elderly mother and Kampei look on, aggrieved. This print is one of eleven from a Chushingura series in which famous episodes from the popular kabuki play are compared to genre scenes that share a common element. --Catherine Roche, Curatorial Associate, 2010

Object number2017.23.15

ProvenanceCollection of Mary and Allan Kollar, Seattle, Washington; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2017

Photo CreditPhoto: Colleen Kollar Zorn

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Fleeting Beauty: Japanese Woodblock Prints, Apr. 1 - July 4, 2010. Text by Catherine Roche. Cat. no. 31, reproduced p. 54. 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., p. 100.

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

DimensionsSheet: 15 x 10 in. (38.1 x 25.4 cm)

MediumWoodblock print; ink and color on paper