Lot 38 | Woodblock Triptych: The giant skeleton appears in front of Mitsukuni

UTAGAWA, KUNIYOSHI
1798 - 1861


Title: Woodblock Triptych: The giant skeleton appears in front of Mitsukuni.
Origin: Japan.
Dynasty: Edo period.
Censorship/Date: Watari, 1845/46.
Technique: Nishiki-e.
Measurement: Ôban-Triptych, each ca. 36.5 x 24.7 cm.
Sheet: Soma no furudairi ai Masakado himegimi Takiyasha yojutsu o motte mikata o atsumuru (In the Ruined Palace at Soma Masakado's Daughter Takiyasha Uses Sorcery to Gain Allies).
Description: Scene from the book "Uto Yasukata chugi-den" (Story about the loyalty of Uto Yasukata) by
Santô Kyôden (1761-1816). Princess Takayashi, the daughter of the rebel Taira no Masakado,
conjures the spirit Nikushisen in the old palace of the Soma in the shape of a huge
skeleton. This should help her and her stepbrother in the rebellion. A henchman of
Minamoto Yorinobu, Oya Taro Mitsukuni, discovered the plan and finally defeated the
princess and her stepbrother in the palace.
Signature: Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi.
Frame: Framed.


Provenance:
-Christie's London, sale 7432, lot 586, Nov. 7, 2007. Ex. B.W. Robinson Collection.
-Collection Prof. Thomas Olbricht.

Literature:
B.W.Robinson: "Kuniyoshi, The Warrior Prints", Oxford, 1982, ill. 52.