Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)

Price Realised GBP 11,250

Estimate

GBP 1,500 - GBP 2,000

Closed: 7 Aug 2014

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The Earth Spider Generates Monsters at the Mansion of Lord Minamoto Yorimitsu

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)

Price Realised GBP 11,250

Closed: 7 Aug 2014

Price Realised GBP 11,250

Closed: 7 Aug 2014

Details Lot Essay Related Articles More from

A PRIVATE ENGLISH COLLECTION OF PRINTS BY UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)
Minamoto Yorimitsu (Raiko) ko no yakata ni tsuchigumo yokai o nasu zu [The Earth Spider Generates Monsters at the Mansion of Lord Minamoto Yorimitsu]

Woodblock print, signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga, published by Ibaya Senzaburo, 1843
Vertical oban triptych (each sheet approx. 36.2 x 24.9cm.)

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Lot Essay

The evil Earth Spider conjures up a battle of demons to torment the unwell Raiko (Yorimitsu) in his sleep (far right), whilst his retainers play . This design got Kuniyoshi into trouble with the authorities because it was felt that it was a caricature of the Shogun Ieyoshi (ruled 1837-53) and his hated chief minister, Mizuno Tadakuni (1794-1851). As a result the blocks were destroyed. Despite the controversy, soon after, the print's popularity resulted in two pirated versions being produced from completely re-cut blocks, each with notable differences when compared to the original. This print is from the first version. For a detailed comparison of the different versions see T. Clark, , (Royal Academy of Arts, 2009), cat. 124 and 125, p. 268-269.

Other impressions of this version are in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum (see www.vam.ac.uk museum number E.10535-1886), the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (see www.mfa.org accession number 11.39572a-c) and the Edo Tokyo Museum (see http://digitalmuseum.rekibun.or.jp/app/collection/detail?ss=01=1000200=2000220=0192200444).