Actors with Lantern - Shunbaisai Hokuei

From the play Honobonoto Ura no Asagiri the actors Iwai Shijaku I as Osuma no Kata and Bando Jutaro as Sesaya Hanbei. One of Hokuei's most elegant diptych designs, this contrasts a black background and eerie landscape with a dense heavily printed figures. See Schwaab -  Osaka Prints.
 Fine impression with use of silver and gold pigments. Poem in sky printed in silver.

Shunbaisai Hokuei who is also known as Shunkō III, was a designer of ukiyo-e style Japanese woodblock prints in Osaka who was active from about 1824 to 1837. He was a student of Shunkōsai Hokushū. Hokuei’s prints most often portray the kabuki actor Arashi Rikan II, and the quality of these designs and printing is remarkable. Hokuei died in 1837. Shunbaisai Hokuei should not be confused with Tōkōen Hokuei an early 19th century Edo (Tokyo) printmaker who is also commonly referred to as “Hokuei”