Artist: Ogata Gekkō (尾形月耕, 1859–1920), signed Gekkō (月耕) with seal Title: Chikamatsu Kanroku Yukishige Series: Gishi Shijūshichi Zu (義士四十七圖) — Pictures of the Forty-seven Loyal Retainers Technique: Woodblock print (nishiki-e) Date: Meiji period, ca. 1895–96 Publisher: Matsuki Heikichi (松木平吉) Format: Ōban tate-e, approx. 36 × 24 cm Condition: Very good. A well impression in the series' characteristic soft, painterly palette, with some overall toning consistent with age and light handling marks in the margins. Minor ink transfer. Album backing. Chikamatsu Kanroku Yukishige Kanroku — identified in the cartouche as a mounted guard of 250 koku, aged thirty-four — stands by candlelight testing a great lacquered bow, blade in hand, snapped bow-staves already littering the floorboards at his feet: quiet, methodical preparation on the eve of the raid. Gekkō's characteristic brush-like line and muted palette give the scene the intimacy of a painting rather than a conventional warrior print About the Series Ogata Gekkō's Gishi Shijūshichi Zu was issued by Matsuki Heikichi between 1895 and 1903, one ōban sheet for each of the Forty-seven (plus related figures). In place of the bust portraits and combat poses of earlier Chūshingura sets, Gekkō gives each retainer a restrained, genre-like vignette in the soft, painterly palette and fine Meiji block-work for which he is admired — closer in feeling to a narrative illustration than a heroic portrait.