Iwai Hanshirō IV as a Woman with a Sword (1791): Art, History and Details

Iwai Hanshirō IV as a Woman with a Sword (1791) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Katsukawa Shunei (Japanese, 1762–1819).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In this unidentified role, Iwai Hanshirō IV is costumed as a woman with long flowing hair, wielding a sword. Men of the Edo period shaved their head from the forehead back to the crown, leaving the side and back hair long, though tied in an updo. Even after the practice was abandoned for Kabuki theater actors specializing in female roles, they kept the custom of concealing the area that would once have been bare, so Hanshirō has a murasaki no bōshi (紫の帽子), or purple headband, attached to his wig.

Object facts

• Title: Iwai Hanshirō IV as a Woman with a Sword
• Date: 1791
• Creator attribution: Katsukawa Shunei (Japanese, 1762–1819)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Print
• Technique: color woodblock print
• Dimensions: Sheet: 31.5 x 14 cm (12 3/8 x 5 1/2 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1921.1287

Collection credit

Gift from J. H. Wade

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.