Onoe Tamizo I and Yoshizawa Iroha I as women holding spools

This Katsukawa Shunsho yakusha-e shows the actors Onoe Tamizo I and Yoshizawa Iroha I as women holding spools, a domestic interior subject in which two onnagata are presented in the act of textile work. Scenes of women winding silk or holding spools belonged to the well-established vocabulary of bijin-ga and kabuki imagery alike, evoking patience, virtue and quiet activity in contrast with the more spectacular roles of the stage. By placing two well-known male performers of female roles in such a setting, Shunsho's print draws on a recurring Edo ukiyo-e device in which kabuki onnagata are depicted in the genre situations characteristic of bijin-ga. The Katsukawa school under Shunsho was already known for individualised actor portraiture, and this print extends that practice into a more intimate setting, allowing the two players to be compared as personalities through paired gesture and posture rather than through theatrical heroism. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London holds the impression, where it forms part of one of the most important European collections of Japanese woodblock prints. As a Shunsho design it illustrates how the Katsukawa school's contribution to yakusha-e went beyond strict role-record to encompass mitate-style and genre-inflected compositions, broadening the range within which Edo audiences encountered visual representations of their favourite onnagata.