Sumō Wrestler Ōnaruto Nadaemon of Awa Province (Ashū Ōnaruto Nadaemon)

A color ōban woodblock print of 1860 in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this Sumō Wrestler Ōnaruto Nadaemon of Awa Province (Ashū Ōnaruto Nadaemon) is one of Kuniaki II's earliest dated prints and a representative example of the late-Edo single-wrestler portrait. Ōnaruto Nadaemon was a sumō wrestler of the late-Edo generation, identified in the title cartouche by his sumō name (Ōnaruto Nadaemon) and his provincial origin (Awa Province, modern Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku island). The convention of identifying wrestlers by province was central to late-Edo sumō, in which wrestlers were sponsored by the daimyō of their home domains and represented their patrons' prestige in the tournament circuit. The composition follows the established late-Edo sumō-portrait formula: the wrestler pictured in formal ceremonial dress (the embroidered keshō-mawashi apron worn during the entry ceremony before tournament bouts), the figure occupying the full height of the ōban sheet, and the title cartouche placed against a plain background to emphasize the wrestler's massive physical presence. The 1860 dating places the print at the threshold of Kuniaki II's mature career.