Horyu Tower from the 'Tale of the Eight Dogs', Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)

A PRIVATE ENGLISH COLLECTION OF PRINTS BY UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)
Hakkenden no uchi Horyukaku [Horyu Tower from the Hakkenden ('Tale of the Eight Dogs')]

Woodblock print, signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga, published by Izumiya Ichibei (Kansendo), circa 1840
Vertical oban triptych (each sheet 38 x 25.7cm.)

Published

Exhibition catalogue Utagawa Kuniyoshi: Exhibition to Commemorate the 200th Anniversary of Utagawa Kuniyoshi's Birth, published Nagoya City Museum, 1996, cat. 40, p. 54-5

Exhibited

Nagoya City Museum, Japan, 26th October - 1st December 1996

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Lot Essay

This extraordinary, action-packed triptych depicts a popular scene from the novel Nanso Satomi hakkenden [Tale of the Eight Dogs of the Satomi of Nanso]. Inuzuka Shino, who has been falsely accused of spying, is fighting the forces of Inukai Kenpachi on the roof of the Horyuji Temple. Kenpachi is under orders from Lord Nariuji to capture Shino.

This impression is an early printing, characterised by the strong wood grain in the sky and yellow colour of the of the river, which later changed to blue and white, and later still to just blue.

Other impressions of this triptych are in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (see www.mfa.org accession numbers 11.39555a-c, 17.3209.63-5) and the British Museum (see www.britishmuseum.com museum number 2008,3037.18312).

The print is accompanied by a fax copy of the letter from the director of the Nagoya City Museum to the owner requesting the loan of the print for the 1996 exhibition.

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