The Actor Segawa Kikunojo I as Kuzunoha

The Actor Segawa Kikunojo I as Kuzunoha, dated to the late 1720s or 1730s, presents one of the most celebrated onnagata of the eighteenth century in the supernatural role of Kuzunoha, the fox-spirit consort of Abe no Yasuna and mother of the legendary diviner Abe no Seimei. Segawa Kikunojo I rose to prominence in the late 1720s and dominated the Edo female-role tradition through the 1730s and 1740s, and his Kuzunoha appearances belonged to the staple supernatural-mother repertoire that Edo audiences expected from leading onnagata. Torii Kiyomasu I draws the standing figure in the disciplined bold contour that the Torii circle established for its sumizuri-e yakusha-e, the line restrained from the muscular aragoto mode and yet carrying the principal expressive weight of the design against the lightly inked ground. The Kuzunoha role requires visible markers of the dual fox-and-human identity, including loose hair, distinctive sleeve motifs, and held writing properties for the famous farewell-poem scene in which the fox-mother inscribes verse on a sliding screen before departing. The hosoban or wide-bordered tate-e format frames the figure full-length, with patterned robe motifs supplying the principal visual interest against the lightly inked ground. As part of the founding generation of the Torii yakusha-e tradition, Kiyomasu produced such commemorative portraits in direct service to the kabuki houses across the careers of successive leading onnagata. The Art Institute of Chicago preserves this impression (source_url https://www.artic.edu/artworks/44149) as a record of the early Segawa Kikunojo I career portrayed in the late Torii Kiyomasu hand.