The scene depicted in the two prints is quite unusual – on the left we find a seated beggar priest with his characteristic basket as a head covering. On the right is another seated character with a raffia straw cape and leaning on two small canes. In between the two – and overlapping both prints – is a fire in front of which two are seated. Then – to make the scene even more difficult for a Westerner to understand – we see four geese suspended by ropes. Both men are looking up in apprehension or fear, apparently from the geese or some unknown person approaching from the left. The upper sections of the two prints have a large amount of writing, which undoubtedly tell the story of what the scene is all about.

The diptych is framed in a very nice golden wood frame and is mounted in acid free matting with museum matting. The colors are still very strong and the impression is quite fine. The piece including the frame measures 28 ½” by 23”. Each of the two prints making up the diptych measures 15” by 10 ½”. It has not been examined out of the frame. A previous owner has dated it as circa 1832 and cited the publiser as Yamtouya.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi, circa. 1797 - April 14, 1861, was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting and belonged to the Utagawa school. Between 1815-1817 he created a number of book illustrations for yomihon, kokkeibon, gokan and hanashibon, and printed his stand-alone full color prints of "kabuki" actors and warriors.

Have you ever wondered why Japanese prints of actors portray the actor with his eyes crossed. We were curious so traced the reason down. The mie pose ( mie, pronounced 'mee-eh'), a powerful and emotional pose struck by an actor, who then freezes for a moment, is a distinctive element of aragoto Kabuki performance. Mie means 'appearance' or 'visible' in Japanese, and one of the primary purposes of this convention is to draw attention to a particularly important or powerful portion of the performance. It is meant to show a character's emotions at their peak, and can often be a very powerful pose. The actor's eyes are opened as wide as possible; if the character is meant to seem agitated or angry, the actor will cross his eyes. In Japanese, the mie pose is said to be "cut" by the actor.