Segawa Kikunojō III as Teruha (1778): Art, History and Details

Segawa Kikunojō III as Teruha (1778) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Katsukawa Shunshō (Japanese, 1726–1792).

The work and its context

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

Men perform all the roles in Kabuki, a form of Japanese theater. Some actors specialize in onnagata (女形), or female roles. Segawa Kikunojō III was one of the most famous onnagata actors of his day. Here, he plays a character called Teruha in what was once the center print of a triptych (a composition of three prints). Teruha is officiating a wrestling match that also involves red and white roosters.

Object facts

• Title: Segawa Kikunojō III as Teruha
• Date: 1778
• Creator attribution: Katsukawa Shunshō (Japanese, 1726–1792)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Print
• Technique: color woodblock print
• Dimensions: Sheet: 32.4 x 14.6 cm (12 3/4 x 5 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1920.157

Collection credit

Sundry Purchase Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• "[Illustration]: DESIGN BY SHUNSHO (1726-1790) Recent Purchase." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 7, no. 9 (November 1920).

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.