Shini-e 死絵 (memorial portrait) of Sawamura Sōjūrō VI - 1812 - Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769-1825) - Japan - Late Edo period

Original woodblock print triptych - Paper - Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769-1825) -”Yakusya-e”役者絵(Actor picture) - Japan - ca 1800-10s (Bunka-Bunsei) \r
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The signature says “Toyokuni ga”豊国画”. \r
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This Ukiyo-e has paper pasted on the back to increase its strength. \r
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https: //archive. waseda. jp/archive/detail. html? arg={%22sub. DB_id%22: %2252%22,%22id%22: %22196964; 1%22}&lang=en\r
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This is the work of the Toyokuni I . The first Toyokuni was the founder of the Toyokuni faction and was the largest faction of Ukiyo-e until the end of the Meiji Period. As a feature of the painting, Toyokuni was good at samurai, actor painting, and bijin-ga. The difference from the Toyokuni II is the difference in paint and facial contours. \r
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Utagawa Toyokuni (Japanese: 歌川豊国; 1769 in Edo – 24 February 1825 in Edo) , also often referred to as Toyokuni I, to distinguish him from the members of his school who took over his gō (art-name) after he died, was a great master of ukiyo-e, known in particular for his kabuki actor prints. He was the second head of the renowned Utagawa school of Japanese woodblock artists, and was the artist who really moved it to the position of great fame and power it occupied for the rest of the nineteenth century. \r
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Utagawa Toyoshige(Utagawa Toyokuni II) memo\r
Painter and print artist. Lived in Hongo Haruki-cho (c. 1828) . Pupil of Toyokuni I, adopted by him in the New Year of 1824, or before. Earliest works c. 1823. Known for prints of actors and ‘bijin’ and illustrations for ‘gokan’. In 1825 assumed the name Toyokuni II on the death of Toyokuni I. In early 1830s designed some fine landscape prints and did a few paintings. No works known after c. 1835 and is assumed to have died or given up painting. Said to have run a pottery business, but this is not proven. \r
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Please have a look at the photos for a better impression.