A Handmade Flower

Series TitleA Popular Selection of Six Flowers

Artist Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese, 1786 - 1865)

Dateca. 1830-1834

MediumWoodblock prints; ink and color on paper

DimensionsSheet: 14 7/8 × 30 3/8 inches (37.78 × 77.15 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: the Asian Art Acquisition Fund in memory of Laurence Sickman

Object number2026.22.2.1-3

On View

Not on view

Terms

DescriptionThe triptych captures a celebrated scene from the Kabuki play Yoshitsune senbon zakura 義経千本桜(Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees), in which Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Shizuka-gozen, and Kitsune Tadanobu (Fox Tadanobu; also known as Satō Tadanobu) travel to Yoshino 吉野, a site renowned for its cherry blossoms. In the drama, Fox Tadanobu is a protective fox spirit who assumes the form of a samurai. Drawn to the drum Hatsune, which is made of the skins of his parents and carried by Shizuka-gozen, Fox Tadanobu follows and protects both the drum and its owners throughout their journey, embodying loyalty, filial devotion, and supernatural transformation.
The triptych depicts a scene beneath cascading paper cherry blossoms that transform the Kabuki stage into an evocation of Yoshino in spring. Shizuka-gozen, positioned at the center sheet in accordance with triptych convention, plays the Hatsune drum while Tadanobu dances to its rhythm on the left. Utagawa Kunisada subtly conveys Tadanobu’s fox identity through Tadanobu’s fingers that are curled inward.
Provenance

Provenance

Purchased by René Scholten, New York, probably in Japan, before 2001;

Purchased from René Scholten by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; 2026

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