Modern Select Dolls
(Tôsei mitate
ningyô no uchi, 当盛見立人形之内)
1855-1856
This
group of prints illustrates carved groups of “dolls” displayed at Kannon Temple
in Asakusa. Although the word ningyô is translated as “dolls”, these
lifelike dolls (iki-ningyô) were in
fact extremely realistic life-sized clothed statues. This print series is listed as number 185 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson
(Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961).
The titles of the prints vary.
Unless otherwise noted, the individual sheets are each about 14 by 10
inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban, and were intended to be placed side-by-side to form diptychs
and triptychs.
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Title: The
Lonely House (Hitotsuya no zu) Description:
This ever popular story tells of a mad woman who ran a boarding house where
she killed and devoured young women until one of them was saved by, the
goddess of mercy (on the left). Date: 2nd
month of 1856 Publisher:
Honmo |
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Title:
Lifelike Dolls of the Hag of Hitotsuya at Adachigahar Description:
The Hag of Hitotsuya with her pregnant victim and goddess Kwannon Inset: The
god Fudô Myô-ô with the child Hotoro Publisher:
Jôshû-ya Juzô |
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This triptych is another version
of the same scene, which is listed as T318 in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell
University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982). Date:
March-April 1855 Publisher:
Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei |
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Title:
Fashionable Living Dolls (Fûyû ningyô,
風流人形) Description:
This is a close-up version of the same group of dolls Date: 2nd
month of 1856 Publisher:
Daikoku-ya Kinnosuke NOTE: The
individual sheets comprising this triptych are each about 10 by 7 inches (25 by
18 centimeters), a size known as chûban. |
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Title: Adachi-ga-hara hitotsuya no zu Description:
The Hag of the Lonely House with a female victim trussed up on the floor and
an apparition of the goddess Kwannon behind Date:
Dragon 3, April 1856 Publisher:
Ômi-ya Kyûsuke (Kyûjirô) NOTE: This
triptych is listed as T330 in Kuniyoshi:
The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press,
Ithaca, NY, 1982). |
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Title:
Lifelike Dolls of Sarutahiko, Uzume-no-mikoto and the Hag of Hitostuya at
Adachigahara Publisher:
Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei |
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Title:
Fashionable Living Dolls (Fûryû iki
ningyô, 風流生人形) Description:
Uzume-no-mikoto and the Hag of Hitostuya at Adachigahara Date: 3rd
month of 1856 Publisher:
Kazusa-ya Iwazô |
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Title: Fashionable
Lifelike Dolls (Fûryû ningyô zukushi,
風流人形盡) Publisher:
Hayashi-ya Shôgorô Date: 2nd
month of 1856
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Here is a slightly
different version of the same group of dolls.
This version was intended to be viewed as individual prints since the
backgrounds are not continuous. Title: Modern
Lifelike Dolls (Tôsei iki ningyô, 當聖生人形) Date: 2nd
month of 1856 Publisher:
Ise-Yoshi Left-hand panel courtesy of
John Rose and Auction Ukiyo-e Ltd. |
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Title:
Lifelike Dolls of Foreign Strangers and the Maruyama Courtesans Now on View
at Okuyama in Asakusa Publisher: Izutsu-ya Shôkichi |
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Title: Living dolls at Okuyama in Asakusa (Asakusa Okuyama iki-ningyô, 浅草奥山生人形) Description:
Foreigners with long arms, long legs, and holes in their chests Date: 1855 |
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Title:
Lifelike Dolls of Three Beauties of the Three Kingdoms (Ningyô no uchi to ten cho san bijin) Date: 3rd month of 1856 |
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Date: 2nd month of 1856 |
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Title: The Upstairs Parlor of a Brothel (Nikai zashiki no zu) Date: 2nd
month of 1856 |
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Title:
Fashionable Living Dolls (Fûryû iki
ningyô, 風流生人形) Date: 2nd month of 1856 Description:
Minamoto no Tametomo seated on a rock drinking sake (centre) as two demons (right) attempt to bend his giant
bow, and two attendants (left) watch in amazement Image courtesy of Louise
Ariëns Kappers and C.P.J. van der Peet Japanese Woodblock Prints |
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Description: A scene in a brothel NOTE: The
figure with exposed breasts in front of a mirror is Mayuzumi, a Yoshiwara
courtesan who gave aid during a recent earthquake. |
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Title: Fashionable
Living Dolls (Fûryû ningyô) Description: A scene in a brothel Date: 1856 Publisher: Daikoku-ya
Kinnosuke NOTE: The
individual sheets comprising this triptych are each about 10 by 7 inches (25
by 18 centimeters), a size known as chûban. |
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Title: Figures of the Loyal Retainers (Gishi ningyô) Description: Fight between the rônin and Morono’s retainers with a half-dressed woman on the
ground Date: 2nd month of 1856 Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke |
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Title: Figures of the Loyal Retainers (Gishi ningyô) Description: The rônin
attacking Kobayashi Heihachiro in Morono’s palace Date: 2nd month of 1856 Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke |
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Title: Pictures of Fashionable Dolls (Fûryû ningyô no zu, 風流人形之圖) Description: Two women
fleeing the forty-seven rônin’s attack on Moranao’s palace Date: 3rd month of 1856 Publisher: Mikawa-ya Rihei |
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Title: Doll Parodies (
Ningyô
mitate, 人形見立) Subtitle:
Shinto, Confucianism and Buddhism (Shinjubutsu,
神儒佛) Description: The Buddhist
saint Hinzuru (right) dances with the Shinto deity Uzume, whilst Confucius
and Mencius play go in the
background, waited on by attendants Date: 3rd
month of 1856 Publisher: Daikoku-ya
Kinnosuke |
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Title: Lifelike
Fashionable Dolls (Fûryû ningyô no uchi,
風流人形之内) Subtitle:
Watonai, O-tsuji, and Hotato (和藤内, お津ぢ, 坊太郎) Description: The child Hotoro (left) sits with an opened scroll
before him, watching his nurse O-tsuji (right) perform penitence under a
waterfall Inset: The
pirate Watonai restraining a tiger Date: 3rd
month of 1856 Publisher: Jôshû-ya Juzô |
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This 1856 triptych by
Kuniyoshi’s student Yoshiiku shows nine scenes of lifelike dolls. |
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