Snake- Snake Handler

Konishi Hirosada's chuban print Snake - Snake Handler in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection depicts a kabuki scene featuring a snake and the actor playing a snake handler or snake charmer figure. Snake imagery appears in multiple kabuki narratives — including supernatural plays where snakes serve as transformations of vengeful women or animal-spirit divinities, and adventure plays where snake charming demonstrates a character's mystical capacity. The visual prominence of the snake within the chuban composition suggests this print serves both as actor portrait and as a memorable theatrical image suitable for display and discussion among kabuki enthusiasts. Hirosada's color printing brings sufficient detail to the snake's scales, eye, and body coiling to make the creature compositionally equal to the human actor, an unusual emphasis that distinguishes this print from his more conventional single- or dual-portrait formats. The V&A's holding demonstrates Hirosada's flexibility in adapting his chuban format to varied subject matter.