Mitsukuni Defying the Skeleton Spectre Conjured up by Princess Takiyasha

Woodblock print
Each sheet signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga and with artist's seal Yoshikiri (right sheet only)
Publisher's mark Hachi, 1845-46
Censor's seal Watari (Watanabe Jiemon)

One of Kuniyoshi's most famous designs, in which a giant skeleton draws back worn bamboo blinds in order to menace the warrior Mitsukuni below, in the ruins of the Soma palace. This terrifying apparition has been conjured up by the sorceress Princess Takiyasha by reading a spell from a scroll in her hands (far left).

The same print is in numerous museum collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 11.30468-70, The British Museum, museum no. 1908,0418,0.2.1-3, and the Honolulu Museum of Art, object no. 11641.06.

Vertical oban triptych:
Left sheet: 36 x 23.9 cm. (14 ⅛ x 9 ⅜ in.)
Centre sheet: 36.1 x 23.7 cm. (14 ¼ x 9 ⅜ in.)
Right sheet: 35.9 x 23.8 cm. (14 ⅛ x 9 ⅜ in.)

-