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Subject:text and crest on kunisada print
Posted By: francis minvielle Mon, Jul 06, 2026 IP: 82.226.118.25

What is the marker saying on the left of the print?
What is this huge crest on the right and Why?



Subject:Re: text and crest on kunisada print
Posted By: I.Nagy Tue, Jul 07, 2026

Red cartouche,
娘千早 Musume Chihaya
Refers to the name of the young female character who appears (or are portrayed as such) in a Kabuki play.

Inscripton on the post,
摘卜傳誓古地〇
An ancient legendary site of revenge

Because at that time (after the Tempo Reforms) the censorship prohibited the sale of prints of kabuki actors, the painters and publishers had to come up with all kinds of pretexts like here, as written on the post on the left, "it is a historical print depicting and legend passing down and engraved in old stone post".

The same can be said of the large black Paulownia crest visible in the upper right corner of the image.As a result, ukiyo-e artists and publishers began boldly placing “the large family crests used by those actors” in the background or on their costumes instead of writing their names.

Regards,
I.Nagy


Subject:Re: text and crest on kunisada print
Posted By: francis minvielle Tue, Jul 07, 2026

Thanks!

Subject:Re: text and crest on kunisada print
Posted By: Stan Tue, Jul 07, 2026

I can't answer your questions, but I can provide information on the print:

The actor Bandô Tamasaburô II playing the role of Sembaya in Sakurada Jisuke III's new year drama "Kinpeibai Soga no Tamamono", which was staged in the 1st lunar month of 1860 at the Nakamuraza (print made by Utagawa Kunisada aka Toyokuni III).

The complete triptych is found at the link below:

https://kabuki21.com/trip_37.php

Cheers,
Stan

URL Title :Kinpeibai Soga no Tamamono


Subject:Re: text and crest on kunisada print
Posted By: I.Nagy Tue, Jul 07, 2026

Thank you, Rat-xiansheng; it is now clear that we are dealing with the left panel of the triptych in question. With this in mind, I would like to partially supplement and revise my previous response.

1,
As of Musume Chihaya, the young female character plays the role of heroine, who becomes the wife of Takejiro, the hero of the play.

2,
"摘卜傳誓古地〇
An ancient legendary site of revenge"

It seems、 I misunderstood the somewhat cryptic inscription after learning the story.
With that in mind, this is how I would translate it now,
“A sacred vow—determined by the oracles passed down from a past" —is now being fulfilled here and now (through the heroine Chihaya).

(I thought 敵討 "revenge" was the intended word that had been deliberately altered to 摘卜" ca. picking up oracles")

3,
It could serve as proof that the story is set against the backdrop of "the dark clouds (black crest) of grand historical events" —namely, the family feud within the Ashikaga Shogunate (or a similarly prominent daimyo family).”

With regards,
I.Nagy

Subject:Re: text and crest on kunisada print
Posted By: I.Nagy  Tue, Jul 07, 2026

スタン先生、大変申し訳ありません。混乱のあまり、先生の名前をラット先生と取り違えてしまいました。

I must apologize to Stan-sensei for mixing up your name with Rat-xiansheng's in all the confusion.

I.Nagy


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