Puppeteer and shamisen player

A woman puppeteer performs with a large puppet while another woman, posed with her back to the viewer, plays a three-stringed instrument called the shamisen. The puppet itself represents a performer who carries a small hand drum at his hip.

Maker(s)
Artist: Tsukioka Settei 月岡雪鼎 (1710-1786)
Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1772
Medium
Ink, color, and gold on silk
Dimensions
H x W (image): 93 x 34.8 cm (36 5/8 x 13 11/16 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
Gift of Elizabeth Gordon Norcross
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1987.11
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Hanging scroll

Keywords
Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, kakemono, music, playing, puppetry, shamisen, woman
Provenance

To 1986
Mrs. Elizabeth Gordon Norcross, Adamstown, MD [1]

From 1986
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Mrs. Elizabeth Gordon Norcross, Adamstown, MD [2]

Notes:

[1] The hanging scroll was a gift from Mrs. Elizabeth Gordon Norcross on June 1986. It was transferred from the Freer Study Collection to the Freer Gallery of Art permanent collection on December 1987. See object file, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Mrs. Elizabeth Gordon Norcross

Description

A woman puppeteer performs with a large puppet while another woman, posed with her back to the viewer, plays a three-stringed instrument called the shamisen. The puppet itself represents a performer who carries a small hand drum at his hip.

Inscription(s)

1. (Ann Yonemura, April 16, 1995) For additional information, see Comment 3.

Signature: "Hogen Tsukioka Settei ga jinen rokujuyusan"

Seal: one circular seal.

Label

Puppet performances in public and private settings were popular during the Edo period (1615-1868). Here, a woman plays the shamisen, a three-stringed instrument, while the woman facing her holds a puppet aloft. With a hand drum at its hip, the puppet joins the shamisen player in performance. The puppeteer's artistry at manipulating the mechanical doll creates an amusing duet of human and puppet performers.

Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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