Woodblock Printed Kabuki Triptych with Kinder Powder Advertisement by Morikawa Chikashige
[Japan] Fascinating and very unusual woodblock printed triptych which looks like a kabuki print but is actually an advertisement for a baby powder called, 'Kindoru San (Kinder Powder).' The right panel states, 'Presented by Kinder' in Japanese and the actor is Ichikawa Danjuro. The centre panel contains the circular ad for the powder, and the left panel has written, 'Shin Tomiza Engeki Kaisha Onchu' [The Shin Tomiza Theatre Company]. Not much is known about the artist, Morikawa Chikashige, but he was a student of Kunichika and appears to have been active in the 1870s and early 1880s.
[Tokyo] Hasegawa-cho. Fukuda Kumajiro. 1880. Right and centre panels 35 x 24.6cm. Left panel 35 x 23.6cm.
In good condition. It appears some metallic pigments were used for the circular ad and there is some oxidisation. The centre panel has some fine Japanese paper affixed over the circular ad, possibly to support the page but possibly original. The centre panel also has a couple of short hairline tears. Each panel with very light crease across centre. Unbacked and with nice bleedthrough. u33121088
