Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川國芳 (1797–1861) Series: Genji kumo ukiyo-e awase 源氏雲浮世画合 (Ukiyo-e Comparisons of the Cloudy Chapters of Genji) Title: No. 43, Kōbai 紅梅 (The Rose Plum): Keyamura Rokusuke 毛谷村六助 and Osono 於園 Format: Ōban tate-e, approx. 24 × 36 cm Technique: Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and colour on paper Date: c. 1845–46 Publisher: Iseya Ichibei 伊勢屋市兵衛 (seal 伊勢市) Censor seal: Murata (村田) Signature: 一勇齋國芳画 (Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga), with the artist's kiri seal Text: Signed Hanagasa Gaishi 花笠外史 Reference: Robinson S45.43 ________________________________________________________ CONDITION Very good color, good impression, light soiling and minor trimming outside the image area. The paper is clean, firm and sublte! Please check the images! ------------------------------------------------------- About the print In Genji kumo ukiyo-e awase, Kuniyoshi matched each chapter of the Tale of Genji with a scene from kabuki or popular legend. Each sheet carries the chapter title, its Genji incense symbol and a poem on a scroll at the top. The link between the two worlds is usually a clever play on the chapter name. Here, Chapter 43, Kōbai ("The Rose Plum"), is paired with a flowering plum branch. The heroes come from the play Hikosan Gongen chikai no sukedachi, first staged as a puppet play in 1786. Rokusuke lives as a farmer in the mountain village of Keya. He is a devoted son and an extraordinarily strong swordsman, and the play presents him as the ideal samurai. Osono is the daughter of his murdered sword teacher, Yoshioka Ichimisai. She is known for her own great strength and courage, and has vowed to take revenge for her father. The two join forces, and the story ends with the avenging of Ichimisai's death.