The actors Ichikawa Danjuro VII as Sukeroku (R) and Onoe Kikugoro III as the white sake peddler Shinbei (L) in the play "Yukari no Edo-zakura"

This shikishiban-format surimono of about 1823 by Utagawa Kunisada depicts two of Edo's greatest actors in a famous kabuki pairing: Ichikawa Danjuro VII as Sukeroku on the right, and Onoe Kikugoro III as the white sake peddler Shinbei on the left, both in the play "Yukari no Edo-zakura," a vehicle for the Sukeroku role. The print, two sheets of a triptych, is in the Art Institute of Chicago. "Sukeroku" is one of the eighteen great Ichikawa kabuki plays (Kabuki Juhachiban) and a defining vehicle for the Ichikawa Danjuro lineage. The character Sukeroku is a dashing Edo townsman, lover of the courtesan Agemaki, who is in fact the disguised samurai Soga no Goro searching for his murdered father's sword. The role demanded high theatrical bravura and was one of Ichikawa Danjuro VII's signature parts. Onoe Kikugoro III, the leading rival house's principal star, was the great cross-disciplinary actor of his generation, equally accomplished in tachiyaku, onnagata, and supernatural roles, and his casting as Shinbei represented a celebrity pairing of the two top stage families of Bunsei-era Edo. Surimono prints commemorating such pairings were prized by sophisticated theater fans. Kunisada's design uses the small near-square format with luxurious printing effects, and the Art Institute of Chicago's holding of multiple sheets allows the relational drama between the two figures to be appreciated as the surimono commission intended.