Tōshūsai Sharaku  "Otani Oniji"

The works of the mysterious artist "Tōshūsai Sharaku," who disappeared from history after just a short period of activity of only 10 months, are intriguing in themselves, with over 140 works brought into the world. However, the individuality, strength, and uniqueness of the works themselves are also remarkable.

The Ōkubi-e depicting Otani Oniji the third, who plays "Edobei" in a Kabuki play "Koi Nyobou Somewake Tazuna," is a powerful work filled with a sense of tension that seems to threaten to strike at any moment to steal a large sum of money.

A technique called 'kira-zuri' is used for the background of the woodblock print, in which shells and other materials are crushed into powder and mixed with glue. Nishijin textile artisans use bronze leaf for the warp yarns and two shades of gray for the weft yarns to perfectly express the effect and texture of time-worn Kira-zuri.

Thirteen colors of yarns are used, and the interplay and overlapping of adjacent colors create even more diverse hues. To give dimension to what might otherwise be a flat white-painted face, Nishijin-ori artisans change the thickness of the yarns and vary the weaving technique, depicting the strength and weakness of lines such as hair and contours.

Size: 
H. approx. 71.0cm (28.0 in.)
W. approx. 41.0cm (16.1 in.)
D. approx. 3.5cm (1.4 in.)