Actors as Jo and Uba, by Utagawa Kunisada

An image of The actors Ichikawa Danjûrô VII as Jô and Segawa Kikunojô V as Uba Kunisada, Utagawa (Japanese, 1786 1865). Colour print from woodblocks with metallic pigments. Shikishiban format surimono. Producer's seal: Surikô Kozen. Circa 1823-1825. These figures holding Nô masks come from a Kabuki play based on the Takasago legend famous from a Nô play. Known as The Eternal Couple, Jô and Uba fell in love when young, and after living to a very old age their spirits came to abide in pine trees, one on Takasago beach in Harima, and the other at Sumiyoshi in Sesshô near Osaka. Their spirits returned on moonlit nights in human form, Jô with a rake and Uba with a broom, to continue clearing pine needles on Takasago Beach. As the second poem on this print makes clear, evergreen pine needles, like the love of the Eternal Couple, symbolise longevity.

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The actors Ichikawa Danjûrô VII as Jô and Segawa Kikunojô V as Uba Kunisada, Utagawa (Japanese, 1786 1865). Colour print from woodblocks with metallic pigments. Shikishiban format surimono. Producer's seal: Surikô Kozen. Circa 1823-1825. These figures holding Nô masks come from a Kabuki play based on the Takasago legend famous from a Nô play. Known as The Eternal Couple, Jô and Uba fell in love when young, and after living to a very old age their spirits came to abide in pine trees, one on Takasago beach in Harima, and the other at Sumiyoshi in Sesshô near Osaka. Their spirits returned on moonlit nights in human form, Jô with a rake and Uba with a broom, to continue clearing pine needles on Takasago Beach. As the second poem on this print makes clear, evergreen pine needles, like the love of the Eternal Couple, symbolise longevity.

Image data

Accession Number: P.480-1937
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Aperture: f/25.0
Focal length: 80
Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
Photographer name: Michael Jones
Image height: 1024 pixels
Image width: 887 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.6 (Macintosh)
Filesize: 254.25kB
Exposure time: 1/125
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 25/1
Captured: 2013:09:26 14:46:35

Key words

19th Century 458392 Date Department Edo Period Fitz_PDP Japanese Jo and Uba Medium Nationalities No masks Object Type Other Keywords People Shikishiban Utagawa Kunisada Workflow _WF_AdOK _WF_KWD _WF_OPACtd _WF_PCtd acting actor clothes clothing costume couple embossed eternal fashion female hair hairstyle kabuki karazuri kimono longevity male mask pine needles pine trees plays print rake robes role surimono theatre theatrical trees ukiyo-e woman woodblock woodcut Artist/Maker

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024)
            "Actors as Jo and Uba, by Utagawa Kunisada "
            Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-188718 Accessed: 2024-04-25 14:34:06

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            {{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-188718
            |title=Actors as Jo and Uba, by Utagawa Kunisada 
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-25 14:34:06|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

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