# The actor Ichikawa Omezo as the manservant Ippei

**Tōshūsai Sharaku** (Japanese)  
1794  
Color woodblock print; oban  
37.7 × 24.3 cm (14 7/8 × 9 5/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1934.201. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/18750).

## About this work

Ichikawa Omezō plays the manservant Ippei in one of the large-head portraits Tōshūsai Sharaku designed in 1794 for fans of the Edo theatre. Ippei and his elder sister Osan, played by Osagawa Tsuneyo II in a companion print, appeared together in the same production, and Sharaku’s images served as souvenirs and advertisements for the performance. In about ten months Sharaku produced some 140 prints and then disappeared; his identity is still debated, though many scholars believe he was a Noh actor in the service of a provincial lord.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Tōshūsai Sharaku designed this in 1794. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of color woodblock print; oban.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Colour woodblock print.** In Japan these were a team effort. The artist drew the design, a carver cut it into cherry-wood blocks, one block for each colour, and a printer brushed on the pigment and rubbed each sheet by hand. Full-colour prints of this kind were called nishiki-e, “brocade pictures”, from the 1760s on.
- **Ōban.** The standard large Japanese print size, about 38 × 25 cm.

### [Tōshūsai Sharaku](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/toshusai-sharaku)

Japanese

Sharaku remains one of the puzzles of Japanese art. Within about ten months in 1794–95 he designed some 140 portraits of kabuki actors for the publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō, then disappeared from the record. His early bust portraits, set against dark mica grounds, exaggerate features and expressions with startling frankness. His identity is still debated, though many scholars favour a Noh actor named Saitō Jūrōbei.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Print
- Culture: Japan
- Real size: about 15 × 9½ in (37 × 24 cm). The 11 × 14 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 18th century
- Movement: [Ukiyo-e](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/ukiyo-e)
- Subjects: Japanese (culture or style)
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/70.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/70/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-actor-ichikawa-omezo-as-the-manservant-ippei-aic-18750).