Bando Shuka:

Another Ukiyo-e picture rendered in marquetry. Overall dimensions: 14-3/4" by 16-1/2" (excluding frame, approximately)

Suisen tanzen dance: Naga-uta (a long epic) ballad
Around the Joo-Meireki eras (1652-58) at Kanda in Edo (the present Tokyo) there was a public bathhouse named Tanzen-buro.  In addition to bathing relaxation, it served as a recreation and amusement house for the general public.  Guises of the types of elegant, refined men who frequented this pleasure spot gave birth to peculiar kabuki performances and a series of dances called tanzen style.  Suisen (narcissus) tanzen denotes one of such dances, so named after verse of its background naga-uta song, which likens a handsome young man to a narcissus.   Portrayed here is Bando Shuka, a distinguished oyama (actor specializing in female roles) of Kamigata (Kyoto-Osaka area) who was quite popular during the closing days of the Tokugawa Shogunate.   This picture shows the oyama in the makeup of a handsome young man whose charm is literally comparable to the beauty of a narcissus.