Ume no Yoshibei, Date-zome no sagi-so (Ume no Yoshibei, Fringed orchid) / Tosei mitate sanju-rokkasen 當盛見立 三十六花撰 (Contemporary Kabuki Actors Likened to Thirty-Six Flowers (Immortals of Poetry))

Ume no Yoshibei, Date-zome no sagi-so (Ume no Yoshibei, Fringed Orchid) is a yakusha-e from Utagawa Kunisada's Tosei mitate sanju-rokkasen (Contemporary Kabuki Actors Likened to Thirty-Six Flowers / Immortals of Poetry). The role of Ume no Yoshibei, the young townsman drawn into murder in the popular kabuki play Sumidagawa Hana no Goshozome and its many derivative dramas, gave star onnagata-paired tachiyaku a powerful sewamono role; the fringed orchid (sagi-so), or 'egret flower,' supplies a delicate yet ominous floral emblem, its white petals echoing both the lover's purity and the violence to come. Kunisada, the most prolific Edo ukiyo-e actor-print designer of his generation, gives the figure a tense half-length pose, with patterned kimono, attentive eyes, and the precise contour line that defines his mature manner. The cartouches at top carrying the series title and the assigned flower frame the design and identify it as part of a coordinated set. The impression is held at the British Museum and indexed on ukiyo-e.org. As a unit within the larger series, the sheet illustrates how Kunisada and his publishers used mitate to elevate routine theatre portraiture into literary game-play. Source: ukiyo-e.org / British Museum (https://ukiyo-e.org/image/bm/AN00431575_001_l).