Four colour woodblocks prints depicting portraits of actors

Description:

Japan, 19th century
35 x 23 cm - 36 x 23,5 cm
Ōban tate-e. Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III, 1786-1865): 1) Kabuki actor as Yaegaki Monzō. Signature: Toyokuni ga. Censorship and date seal: 1859. 2) Kabuki actor in front of the Jōruri ensemble. Engraver: Yokokawa Takejirō. Publisher: Iseyas. Censorship and date seal: 1859. 3) Actor performing the lion dance. Possibly based on a composition sketch by the Utagawa school. 4) Morikawa Chikashige (active c. 1869-85): Portrait of the Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjūrō. Signature: Morikawa Chikashige hitsu with red artist’s seal (Kao). Censorship and date seal: 1885.
From an old German private collection, acquired before 2007 - Partially slightly wear, worm damages, partly backed, partly trimmed at the edges, with passe-partouts