Set of 2 Prints, Kuniyoshi, Parallels for the Tokaido Road
Item 1:
Artist: Kuniyoshi Utagawa (1798 - 1861)
Title: 5. Hodogaya. Yura Hyogo, his Wife (Nyobo) Minato, and Shinozuka Hachiro
Series: Fifty-three Parallels for the Tokaido Road
Publisher: Ebiya Rinnosuke
Date: c. 1845
Condition: Binding holes on the right. Wormholes on the left and bottom margins. Slightly trimmed. Some soiling throughout.
Size: 24.8 x 36.4 cm
Warrior Yura Hyogo is shown seated inside his military camp near Hodogaya while expecting orders from his warlord Nitta Yoshioki. The messenger before him, however, brings him bad news. Yoshioki is dead, betrayed by a former retainer. The messenger appears to be acting out the final moments when, in a sinking boat and under the threat of arrows, Yoshioki honourably performed 'seppuku' (ritual suicide). Kuniyoshi captured this dramatic scene in another print from the same Tokaido series, station Kawasaki.
Item 2:
Artist: Kuniyoshi Utagawa (1798 - 1861)
Title: 31. Maisaka. Kezori Kuemon
Series: Fifty-three Parallels for the Tokaido Road
Publisher: Enshuya Matabei
Date: c. 1845
Size: 24.6 x 36.5 cm
Condition: Binding holes on the right. Slightly trimmed. Light soiling.
The series 'Fifty-three Parallels for the Tokaido Road' became famous for its striking designs and stories illustrated, but also because of the collaboration between publishers and three important artists of the day. Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798 - 1861) produced thirty-one prints for the series, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 - 1858) nineteen and Utagawa Kunisada (1786 - 1864) the remaining eight, adding up to more than the 'fifty-three' prints implied in the title. Each print has a cartouche at the top with explanatory text on the stories drawn from folklore and history associated with the post-stations of Tokaido.
The story of pirate captain Kezori Kuemon is filled with crime and drama that must have been particularly entertaining to an Edo period (c.1603-1868) audience. When national borders were almost entirely sealed, the roughish and exotic nature of the pirate must have been particularly potent. In the bottom left of the image is an elaborate, well-defined compass, an unusual instrument to be seen in woodblock prints, adding to the exotic nature of the character. He is holding a pipe, while his tobacco pouch has an applied anchor decoration. As well as adding fierceness to this outlaw character, the dragon adorning his robe further echoes the nautical theme of the print, as the mystical creature often resides in the ocean in Japanese folklore.
Ref: JG031951-37 / JG031951-40
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
Item 1:
Artist: Kuniyoshi Utagawa (1798 - 1861)
Title: 5. Hodogaya. Yura Hyogo, his Wife (Nyobo) Minato, and Shinozuka Hachiro
Series: Fifty-three Parallels for the Tokaido Road
Publisher: Ebiya Rinnosuke
Date: c. 1845
Condition: Binding holes on the right. Wormholes on the left and bottom margins. Slightly trimmed. Some soiling throughout.
Size: 24.8 x 36.4 cm
Warrior Yura Hyogo is shown seated inside his military camp near Hodogaya while expecting orders from his warlord Nitta Yoshioki. The messenger before him, however, brings him bad news. Yoshioki is dead, betrayed by a former retainer. The messenger appears to be acting out the final moments when, in a sinking boat and under the threat of arrows, Yoshioki honourably performed 'seppuku' (ritual suicide). Kuniyoshi captured this dramatic scene in another print from the same Tokaido series, station Kawasaki.
Item 2:
Artist: Kuniyoshi Utagawa (1798 - 1861)
Title: 31. Maisaka. Kezori Kuemon
Series: Fifty-three Parallels for the Tokaido Road
Publisher: Enshuya Matabei
Date: c. 1845
Size: 24.6 x 36.5 cm
Condition: Binding holes on the right. Slightly trimmed. Light soiling.
The series 'Fifty-three Parallels for the Tokaido Road' became famous for its striking designs and stories illustrated, but also because of the collaboration between publishers and three important artists of the day. Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798 - 1861) produced thirty-one prints for the series, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 - 1858) nineteen and Utagawa Kunisada (1786 - 1864) the remaining eight, adding up to more than the 'fifty-three' prints implied in the title. Each print has a cartouche at the top with explanatory text on the stories drawn from folklore and history associated with the post-stations of Tokaido.
The story of pirate captain Kezori Kuemon is filled with crime and drama that must have been particularly entertaining to an Edo period (c.1603-1868) audience. When national borders were almost entirely sealed, the roughish and exotic nature of the pirate must have been particularly potent. In the bottom left of the image is an elaborate, well-defined compass, an unusual instrument to be seen in woodblock prints, adding to the exotic nature of the character. He is holding a pipe, while his tobacco pouch has an applied anchor decoration. As well as adding fierceness to this outlaw character, the dragon adorning his robe further echoes the nautical theme of the print, as the mystical creature often resides in the ocean in Japanese folklore.
Ref: JG031951-37 / JG031951-40
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
