Kunisada: Actor with butterflies and flowers from the Fox-Woman story 稲荷社 の菜種花 安部保名

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864)Title: Canola Flowers of the Inari Shrine (Inari no mori no natane no hana) 稲荷社 の菜種花 安部保名 Series: Tosei mitate sanju-rokkasen 當盛見立 三十六花撰 (Contemporary Kabuki Actors Likened to Thirty-Six Flowers (Immortals of Poetry)) Date: 1861 Canola Flowers of the Inari Shrine (Inari no mori no natane no hana). In this series actors are compared both with 36 flowers as well as the 36 Immortal Poets.  The actor Ichimura Uzaemon XIII/Onoe Kikugorô V is portrayed here in the role of Abe no Yasuna. Abe no Yasuna 安倍保名 was the kindhearted man who married the fox-woman Kuzunoha; their son became the court magician Abe no Seimei. He wears an unusual hairstyle, with bushy sides and a long back, and his one hand is curled while his other hand holds a fan; these attributes must be specific to this role. This may be from the play Ashiya dôman ôuchi kagami (Abe Yasuna and the White Fox Woman, Kuzunoha), in which a magical white fox takes the form of Kuzunoha and marries Abe no