Migita Toshihide · Hachi no Ki (The Potted Trees) · Sano...

Artist: Migita Toshihide (右田年英, 1863–1925) Title: Sano Genzaemon Tsuneyo and Saimyōji Tokiyori Series: Eighteen Honourable Men and Deeds Technique: Woodblock print (nishiki-e), colour, with embossing and burnished decoration on the border Date: Japan, 1894 (Meiji 27) Publisher: Akiyama Buemon (秋山武右衛門) Format: Ōban tate-e diptych, two sheets, unjoined; each approx. [37 × 25 cm] Signature: Ōju Toshihide (応需 年英), with artist's seal Condition: Strong impression with well saturated colour throughout. The paper is firm and subtle. Minor scuff on the margins of the right sheet. Very good overall. Please refer to the images for full detail! About the print This diptych illustrates one of the best-known stories of loyalty in Japanese culture, made famous by the Noh play Hachi no Ki (The Potted Trees), traditionally attributed to Zeami. Hōjō Tokiyori (1227–1263), the former regent of the Kamakura shogunate, became a monk under the name Saimyōji. According to legend, he travelled the provinces in disguise to learn how ordinary people were living. One snowy night he asked for shelter at the poor house of Sano Genzaemon Tsuneyo. Tsuneyo was a samurai who had been robbed of his lands by his relatives. Having no firewood, he cut up his three prized potted trees, a plum, a pine and a cherry, to keep his guest warm. He also told the monk that he still kept his old armour, his sword and his thin horse ready, so that he could ride to Kamakura if the shogunate ever needed him. Some time later, Tokiyori called all his vassals to Kamakura. Tsuneyo arrived in his worn armour. Tokiyori revealed who he really was, gave Tsuneyo back his lands and added three more estates in place of the three trees he had burnt. These estates were Umeda, Sakurai and Matsuida, whose names contain the characters for plum, cherry and pine. Toshihide shows the climax of the first part of the story: Tsuneyo is about to sacrifice his trees while the disguised regent sits by the fire. The monk's white robe is embossed (karazuri), and the dark border has a burnished pattern. Toshihide was one of the leading students of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. In the 1890s he was among the most productive designers of historical and war prints. The year this diptych was published, 1894, was also the year the Sino-Japanese War broke out. At that time, prints celebrating loyalty and samurai virtue were very popular.

Utropspris:SEK 1,670.8

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