Tennichibo Hosaku, Suzuka no oniyuri (Tennichibo Hosaku, Tiger Lily) / Tosei mitate sanju-rokkasen 當盛見立 三十六花撰 (Contemporary Kabuki Actors Likened to Thirty-Six Flowers (Immortals of Poetry))

Tennichibo Hosaku, Suzuka no oniyuri (Tennichibo Hosaku, Tiger Lily) is part of Utagawa Kunisada's Tosei mitate sanju-rokkasen (Contemporary Kabuki Actors Likened to Thirty-Six Flowers / Immortals of Poetry), a mitate (witty parallel) series in which leading kabuki actors are matched with one of the classical thirty-six poetic immortals and with a corresponding flower or plant. Tennichibo Hosaku is the impostor monk whose ambitions drive the late-eighteenth-century jidaimono Goban Taiheiki and related plays; the tiger lily (oniyuri) of Suzuka, with its fierce, spotted flowers, supplies an emblem fitting his menacing nature. Kunisada, the most prolific Edo ukiyo-e designer of actor portraits in his generation, presents the figure in a half-length composition with theatrical glare, dramatic costume folds, and the dense patterning that allowed Edo woodblock printing to display its full graphic range. The title cartouche and flower cartouche at top identify the series and the assigned bloom, marking the print as part of a coordinated set rather than a single one-off design. The impression catalogued at the British Museum and presented through ukiyo-e.org illustrates Kunisada's confident handling of villainous kabuki roles within the framework of literary mitate. Source: ukiyo-e.org / British Museum (https://ukiyo-e.org/image/bm/AN00431707_001_l).