Actors in a Kabuki Performance (triptych)

This 1880 color woodblock triptych in the ōban format is from Morikawa Chikashige's peak period of production, in the last years of the 1870s and the first years of the 1880s, when his output of kabuki triptychs was at its densest. The triptych depicts a full kabuki stage tableau across its three connected sheets, with the principal actors of the production identified by name in the inscriptions and placed in the visual conventions of yakusha-e: distinctive role-specific costumes, the elaborate makeup and wig styles of the kabuki theater, and the theatrical poses (mie) that punctuate kabuki dramaturgy. The signature 守川周重 (Morikawa Chikashige) is recorded on the print. The composition uses the strong aniline-dye palette of early Meiji printing, with saturated reds, greens, and purples that depend on the synthetic colorants imported from Germany and England in the years after the opening of Japan to foreign trade. Triptychs of this kind were the central commercial vehicle for the Meiji kabuki-print market, issued by Tokyo publishers and sold as souvenirs of specific theatrical productions. The print is recorded on ukiyo-e.org and is a representative example of Chikashige's mature triptych production.