An Unidentified Actor Stands with an Open Fan in His Hand

This print, held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, depicts an unidentified kabuki actor standing with an open fan held aloft — a classic pose from the Katsukawa-school repertoire of actor portraits. The fan was an essential prop of the kabuki stage, used in dance sequences, fight choreography, and the precise gestural shorthand that conveyed character and emotional state. Shunkō's mastery of the actor portrait lay in his ability to render not only the likeness of a specific performer but also the rhythm and weight of his stage presence. Although the actor in this print cannot now be securely identified — likely because the mon (family crest) on the costume is either absent, obscured, or belongs to a less-documented theatrical lineage — the composition is characteristic of Shunkō's middle period, with its strong vertical orientation, clean outline, and minimal background. The Metropolitan's date range of 1743–1812 corresponds to Shunkō's lifetime rather than a specific print date, and the work likely belongs to his most productive years in the 1770s or 1780s. The Met's deep holdings of Katsukawa-school actor prints provide one of the most complete records of Shunkō's career outside Japan and make this print part of an essential study set for understanding eighteenth-century [yakusha-e](/glossary/yakusha-e).