The Actor Nakamura Sukegorō II as a Samurai Disguised as a Shichō or Attendant at a Shinto Shrine

Description

Nakamura Sukegorō II appears as a samurai disguised as a shichō, an attendant at a Shinto shrine. The actor bends energetically beneath a large cap, wearing patterned, pleated clothing against a sparse background. The costume follows the body’s movement, giving the layered disguise an immediate physical presence rather than leaving it as a matter of identity alone.

Made around 1778, the nishiki-e print uses ink and color on paper. Its interest lies in the difference between appearance and role, where what a figure presents does not tell the whole story of who that figure is. Katsukawa Shunshō preserves the specific association between Sukegorō and this layered character. The work invites attention to costume as part of dramatic disguise, allowing a seemingly straightforward presence to suggest a more complicated theatrical situation.

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