print
- Museum number
- 1906,1220,0.1062
- Title
- Object: Matsumoto Koshiro V as the spirit of Tarobo 五代目松本幸四郎の太郎坊の霊
- Description
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Colour woodblock print, oban. The kabuki actor Matsumoto Koshiro V as the spirit of the great tengu Tarobo, with wings at his back, clutching a ‘tokko’ (‘vajra’, a Buddhist instrument symbolising a thunderbolt) in one hand and wearing the small black cap (‘tokin’) on his head. The figure is depicted as a painting mounted in a scroll that hangs upon a large pine tree.
- Production date
- 1822-1830
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- Tarobo was one of the eight great tengu (long-nosed goblins) in Japan, and was said to dwell on Mt. Atago, as well as Mt. Fuji and on other mountains. The face is clearly that of Koshiro V but there are no records of the actor playing this role. The date, therefore, has been determined by the style of the artist’s signature. (P. Griffith 12/2013).
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
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Exhibited:
2015 April-July, London, BM Japanese Galleries, 'Japan from Prehistory to the Present'
- Acquisition date
- 1906
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1906,1220,0.1062