The Third Otani Hiroji as a Daimyo Standing on the Engawa

Description

In Ōtani Hiroji III’s daimyō role, Katsukawa Shunshō gives the figure a leaning stance and raised arm before a flat mustard-colored screen. Blades extend above or across the head, while a layered striped robe gives the body a rhythm of repeated lines. The angular action contrasts with the calm background, turning the portrait into an emphatic stage moment.

Made around 1771, the work is an ink-and-color woodblock print from the Edo period. Its subject is a moment of theatrical presentation: Hiroji becomes a lord through an assumed appearance and position. The engawa’s threshold setting offers a spatial focus without revealing the whole dramatic situation. Shunshō preserves the performer within that partial scene, allowing the character’s social presence and the actor’s individuality to coexist.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Katsukawa Shunshō collection.