尾形月耕 · 义士十七图 · 四十七浪人 · 忠臣藏 · 明治 - 日本 - Meiji period (1868-1912)

** The Retainer Who Said Farewell in Silence — Kataoka Gengoemon, Lord Asano’s Closest Attendant — from Gekkō’s celebrated series on the Forty-seven Loyal Retainers. . **

Artist: Ogata Gekkō 尾形月耕 (1859–1920)
Series: Gishi shijūshichi zu 義士四十七圖 (Pictures of the Forty-seven Loyal Retainers)
Title: Kataoka Gengoemon Takafusa 片岡源五右衛門高房

Format: Ōban tate-e, approx. 36 × 24 cm
Technique: Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and colour on paper
Date: Meiji period, 1896–1902 (to be confirmed from the margin colophon)
Publisher: Matsuki Heikichi 松木平吉 (margin colophon)
Signature: 月耕 (Gekkō), with the artist's seal
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CONDITION

Very good colors and strong impression. The paper has minor Soiling/toning and an album backing. Please check the images!
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About the print

The cartouche names Kataoka Gengoemon Takafusa as sobayōnin, the personal attendant who served at his lord’s side, with a hereditary stipend of 200 koku. It also gives his age at death, 37. He had served Lord Asano Naganori since his youth, and no other member of the forty-seven was closer to him.

That closeness explains why he is remembered for one moment in particular. On the fourteenth day of the third month of Genroku 14 (1701), Asano drew his sword on the court official Kira Yoshinaka inside Edo Castle. He was taken to the residence of the daimyō Tamura Ukyō-no-daibu and ordered to commit seppuku the same day. According to tradition, Gengoemon hurried to the Tamura mansion and asked to see his lord one last time. He was allowed to wait in the garden as Asano passed on his way to his death, on the condition that neither man spoke. The two exchanged only a look. This silent farewell became one of the most moving scenes of the Chūshingura story and was retold many times on the kabuki stage and later in film.

Gengoemon went on to join Ōishi Kuranosuke’s league and took part in the night raid on Kira’s mansion on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month of Genroku 15 (early 1703 in the Western calendar). Afterwards he was placed in the custody of the Hosokawa house and, with his comrades, ordered to commit seppuku in the second month of 1703. He is buried beside his lord at Sengaku-ji in Tokyo.

Gekkō gave each of the retainers a single ōban sheet in this series, published by Matsuki Heikichi from the mid-1890s into the early 1900s. As the portrait of the man who stood by Asano to the very end, this sheet is a natural centrepiece for any group from the set.