Kunisada: Tattooed Zhang Shun with Dragon Robe 張順に比す夢の市郎兵衛 (SOLD)

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (1786-1865)Title: Actor Kataoka Nizaemon VIII as Yume no Ichirobei, Compared to the Chinese Water Margin hero Zhang Shun (Chôjun ni hisu)  張順に比す夢の市郎兵衛 Series: Tosei Suikoden 當世好男子傳 (A Modern Suikoden) Date: 1859 Actor Kataoka Nizaemon VIII as Yume no Ichirobei, Compared to the Chinese Water Margin hero Zhang Shun (Chôjun ni hisu). We see Nizaemon reaching for his white towel, his torso tattoo featuring clouds split with a red bolt of lightning. This seems to match his robe, which is decorated with a large dragon that is spreading its wings and flying above curling waves. It is somewhat unusual to see dragon wings as depicted here.  In this series famous actors were compared to characters in the Suikoden, the Chinese tale of marsh-dwelling antiheroes that was made famous by Kuniyoshi. Although works in this series are individual sheets, three together can also be put together to form a triptych. There is also a secondary theme of setsugekka, Pine,