Doll News Summer 2019 - 99

sympathetic intervention of a brothel owner, gains
access to the Ogiya. In perhaps the play's most famous
scene, Izaemon feigns sleep when Yûgiri returns. She
is overjoyed at seeing Izaemon again, but he is cold,
accusing her of being feckless. Her pledges of love
ultimately convince Izaemon and they have a tender
reunion. At that moment, word comes that Izaemon
has been restored to his position by his mother and
money soon arrives for I aemon to pay off giri's
contract and make her his wife. With this last detail,
this drama forms one of the quintessential keisei gai
(courtesan buying) plays, telling stories of young men
falling in love with courtesans and attempting to buy
their contracts-true love in a brothel setting.
So popular was this and other plays that it spawned
an entire sub-genre known as Yûgiri-mono (Yûgiri
Plays), with subtle variations. Woodblock prints of
celebrated actors in the roles of Yûgiri and Izaemon
populate the 18th and 19th centuries, additional parodies
and the use of Yûgiri and Izaemon motif also abound
with these two lovers coming to symbolize true love
and triumph. In many of these prints, colophons and
inscriptions fre uently allow us to know specifics.
The interpretation of ningyô however, can be far
more di cult. In this case we have the original bo es
clearly identifying the pair as Yûgiri and Izaemon,
but we do not know exactly when they were created,
for whom, and why. If the tableau was created to
commemorate a particularly memorable performance
of the play, then that would indicate that both figures
on the stand are male, one an onnagata actor in the
role of Yûgiri, the other a wagoto actor in the role of
Izaemon. If simply a ningyô artist's interpretation of this
famous couple, then they are designed to be depictions
of the historical figures themselves.
Here the dolls are presented on a lavish elevated
base. The youthful Yûgiri wears a rich orange designstudded kinran brocade uchigake outer cloak. She wears
it with one sleeve stylishly thrown off. Her obi is also
of a rich kinran but in a sharply contrasting green
silk with the knot tied in front befitting her role as a
courtesan. Her red under kimono is revealed at her
shoulders and in the hem opening, with additional
layers of white kimono also visible at neck, sleeve
opening and hem. Her bare feet are glimpsed peeking
out beneath the thickly padded hem of her uchigake.
Her carved wooden hair is arranged in undulating and
gathered layers all "secured" by a comb at the top. Her
paramour, Izaemon, is depicted standing at her side,
tenderly holding a parasol to protect his beloved Yûgiri

A woodblock print of two lovers reenacting Yûgiri
and Izaemon with puppets by Kitagawa Utamaru 1
(early 1750s-1806), 1801. Courtesy of Boston MFA
11.14379 (William Sturgis Bigelow Collection)

from the harsh light of day. He wears a more subdued
plain weave silk kimono with supplemental weft threads
piquing out a design of leafed branches and spider
chrysanthemums, secured by an orange kinran brocade
obi, with additional layers of light blue under kimono
visible at the neck. Like Yûgiri, Izaemon's hair is painted
and carved, depicting the typical shaved pate and
topknot of an adult male of the period.
From this brief study, we can easily see that Japanese
fashion dolls represent a uniquely Japanese form of
doll--one infused with all the beauty and mastery of
refined doll art, but additionally layered in history,
lore and social values. They are fabulous windows to a
long-ago world, but one that comes to life again when
one gazes at the lustrous white gofun faces, admires
the rich silken brocades, and ponders reflectively the
stories they tell.

DOLL NEWS * UFDC.ORG

http://www.UFDC.ORG

Doll News Summer 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Doll News Summer 2019