Ehon butai ogi 絵本舞台扇 (Picture-book of the Stage in Fan-shapes)

This impression, recorded on ukiyo-e.org from a British Museum source, represents a page or assemblage from Ehon butai ogi, the Picture-book of the Stage in Fan-shapes, first published in Edo in 1770 with designs by Ippitsusai Buncho and Katsukawa Shunsho. The book is one of the foundational works of late mid-Edo ukiyo-e and is widely cited in the history of yakusha-e, or kabuki actor prints, for its inventive presentation of leading Edo kabuki actors in role as if their portraits were painted on folding stage fans. The fan format imposed a curved compositional field on each portrait, encouraging the artists to think carefully about pose, costume, and the carriage of the head and shoulders within an unusual shape, while the gathering of dozens of actors into a single volume produced something close to a portrait gallery of the Edo stage. Buncho's contribution drew on his already established practice of hosoban actor portraiture, while Shunsho's later dominance of the actor-print market built on the visual idiom they refined together here. As preserved through ukiyo-e.org's aggregation of museum holdings, the work stands as evidence of how Ehon butai ogi continues to circulate as a primary source for the history of Edo kabuki and for Buncho's brief but pivotal career in Edo ukiyo-e.