Lot 29
29
KATSUKAWA SHUNKO: oban tate-e (36.9 x 25.7cm.); full-length portraits of the wrestlers Fudenoumi of the Eastern Group on the right, wearing an apron decorated with his name and the words Sakata tattooed on his arm, and Kashiwado of the Western group on the left, his apron similarly decorated, signed Shunko ga--very good impression, good color and condition

Details
KATSUKAWA SHUNKO: oban tate-e (36.9 x 25.7cm.); full-length portraits of the wrestlers Fudenoumi of the Eastern Group on the right, wearing an apron decorated with his name and the words Sakata tattooed on his arm, and Kashiwado of the Western group on the left, his apron similarly decorated, signed Shunko ga--very good impression, good color and condition
Provenance
Frank Lloyd Wright
Blanche B. McFetridge, sold Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, Nov. 20, 1969, lot 95

Lot Essay

PUBLISHED:
Sumo and the Woodblock Print Masters, fig. 14

From a series of portraits dated to around 1787 depicting one wrestler from the Eastern Group and one wrestler from the Western Group in keshomawashi in the dohyo-iri. In fact, wrestlers from opposing teams would not appear together in the ring in these special silk aprons.