Comparison of Beauties in the Theatrical Mirror: Okoma Arranging Her Lover Saizaburô’s Hair
Hosoda Eisui
Description
In 1798–99, Kitagawa Utamaro did a magnificent series of prints of famous historical and fictional lovers, entitled "True Feelings Compared: The Founts of True Love" (Jitsu kurabe iro no minakami ). Close on the heels of that success, Ichirakutei Eisui issued his own series, which closely mimics Utamaro’s "big head" close-up format, and with the same cast of characters. The pair shown here, Shirokiya Okoma and Obana Saizaburô, were star-crossed lovers whose tale first appeared on the kabuki stage in 1775.
After they had been forcefully separated, the once-prosperous Saizaburô was reduced to being a hairdresser.
This print represents the rare occasion where the spin-off surpasses the original. In Utamaro’s version, Okoma crouches before Saizaburô, pleading with him to "speak no more of their love." In Eisui’s reworking of the theme, she stands over him, clearly the more resolved and resourceful of the two. She uses her own hairpin to adjust his coiffure, in a gesture that is both delicate and intimate.
M. Graybill
"Courtesans, Cross-Dressers, and the Girl Next Door Images of the Feminine in Japanese Popular Prints"
3/9 - 9/1/02
Subject Matter:
The label copy explains most of the subject matter. The kabuki play that these two characters, Okoma and Saizaburo, appear in is "Koi Musume Mukashi Hachijo" first in 1775.
Physical Description:
This print depicts two individuals. The upper left woman tends to a man's hair just to the lower right. As she tends to his hair he holds a comb up to her. There is writing on the upper right.
Usage Rights:
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