Ōkubi-e

An ōkubi-e is a portrait print or painting showing only the head or the head and upper torso. Katsukawa Shunkō I (1743-1812) is generally credited with producing the first ōkubi-e. He, along with Katsukawa Shunshō, only designed ōkubi-e of kabuki actors. In the early 1780s, Kitagawa Utamaro designed the first ōkubi-e of beautiful women. The shogunate authorities banned ōkubi-e in 1800, but the ban only lasted for about eight years.

Gallery

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  Ōkubi-e of kabuki actor Matsumoto Kōshirō IV as Tsurunosuke, a woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunkō I

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  Woodblock print by Utagawa Kunimasa of kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizō in a shibaraku role, 1796

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  Nakazō Nakamura II as Edobee, woodblock print by Sharaku, 1794

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  Portrait of Hagiwara Sakutarô, woodblock print by Onchi Kôshirô, 1943

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  Kennedy stamp considered a radical design in 1964

References

• Newland, Amy Reigle. (2005). Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints. Amsterdam: Hotei. 10-ISBN 9074822657/13-ISBN 9789074822657; OCLC 61666175
• Roberts, Laurance P. (1976). A Dictionary of Japanese Artists. New York: Weatherhill. 10-ISBN 0834801132/13-ISBN 9780834801134; OCLC 2005932