The armor-pulling scene from a Soga play
date: label: Date
content: 1615-1868
label: Period
content: Edo period
notes: label: Label
content: In this famous scene that appeared in many kabuki versions of the Soga brothers' vendetta to avenge their father's death, Soga no Goro (1174-1193) struggles with Asahina Saburo, who tries to restrain Goro from intervening in a confrontation between his brother Juro (1172-1193) and their uncle. The scene evolved into a dance piece from an enactment of a struggle over the armor that Goro has carried to the scene. This dance was performed in the bravado aragoto style that became a specialty of Edo actors, especially of the Ichikawa Danjuro family line. The actor playing Soga no Goro is likely to be Ichikawa Danjuro II (1689-1758).
label: Provenance
content: To 1902
label: Provenance
content: Bunshichi Kobayashi (circa 1861-1923), Boston, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Yokohama, to 1902 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1902 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunshichi Kobayashi in 1902 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See Original Panel List, L. 19, pg. 5, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art from the Collection (October 26, 2024 - ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: The Floating World: Ukiyo-e Paintings and Prints (December 8, 2002 to May 26, 2003)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Prints (January 18, 1980 to May 18, 1980)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Ukiyo-e Painting (May 2, 1973 to July 1, 1974)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Kobayashi Bunshichi 小林文七 (ca. 1861-1923) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: theater
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: actor
label: Topic
content: ukiyo-e
label: Topic
content: kakemono
label: Topic
content: yakusha-e
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1902.251
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Color on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 67.7 x 34.6 cm (26 5/8 x 13 5/8 in)