Warrior triptychs
1853
Title: Kawanakajima kassen:
Shingen-kô hatamoto no yûshi (川中島合戦 (左半分) Description: Takeda
Shingen (standing at left) reviewing his troops before the battle of Kawanakajima Publisher: Mori-ya Jihei Date: Ox 1,
February 1853 Robinson: T289 NOTE: Robinson
gives the publisher as Hayashi-Ji. It
was not unusual for woodblocks to be purchased and reissued by a secondary
published who replaced the original publisher’s seal with his own. |
Title: Igagoe kataki-uchi
(伊賀越敵討, The Igagoe Revenge) Description: The Igagoe revenge: Karaki Masaemon
(right) fighting against odds and Sawai Matagorô
engaged by Wada Shizuma (left) Publisher: Mori-ya Jihei Date: Ox 1,
February 1853 Robinson: T290 |
Title: Sangokushi no uchi
(三国志之内, A Popular
Romance of the Three Kingdoms) Subtitle: Tôen ni gi wo musubu zu (桃園義結圖, Oath of
Loyalty in the Peach Orchard) Description: Gentoku, Kwanu and Chôhi taking their oath of loyalty in the peach orchard,
with women waiting on them Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô Date: Ox 3, April
1853 Robinson: T291 |
Title: Kawanakajima kassen:
Kenshin-kô Shingen-kô no hatamoto (川中島 合戦) Description: Uesugi
Kenshin engaged by Wakatsuki Heidayû (left) and
Nagasaka Gengorô (right) at the Battle of Kawanakajima Publisher: Mori-ya Jihei Date: Ox 3, April
1853 Robinson: T292 I am grateful to Vladislav Ruchkin for this image. |
Title: Tsûzoku Sangokushi no uchi:
Kwanu ga gishin Sôsô wo yurusu zu Description: Kwanu mounted at the head of his troops interviewing Sôsô Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô Date: Ox 4, May
1853 Robinson: T293 |
Title: Tsûzoku Sangokushi no uchi:
Gentoku mitabi setchû ni (A Popular Romance
of the Three Kingdoms: Liu Bei Visits Zhuge Liang Three Times in the Snow, 通俗三国志之内: 玄徳三雪中孔明訪圖) Description: Gentoku, Kwanu and Chôhi visiting the house of Kômei
in the snow to request the latter’s assistance Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô Date: Ox 4, May
1853 Robinson: T294 |
Title: Tsûzoku Sangokushi no uchi:
kwa-i hone wo kezurite Kwanu (A Popular
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, 通俗三国志之内: 華佗骨刮関羽箭療治圖) Description: Kwanu (center) playing go while Hua Tuo performs a painful medical procedure known as
bone shaving on the former’s wounded arm Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô Date: Ox 4, May
1853 Robinson: T295 NOTE: The website
of the |
Title: Gentoku Jumps His Horse into the Tan Gorge (Gentoku uma o odorasete Dankei o tobu zu, 玄徳馬躍擅渓跳図), from the
series Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Tsuzoku
Sangokushi no uchi, 通俗三国志之内) Description: Gentoku leaping his horse into the gorge of Tan; the
ox-boy (ushidôji)
on the opposite bank Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô Date: Ox 5, June
1853 Robinson: T296 |
Title: Tsûzoku Sangokushi: Kwanu
go-kwan wo yaburu no zu (A Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms, 通俗三国志之, 關羽五關を破圖) Description: Kwanu, mounted, receives the submission of Sôsô and his followers on a bridge Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô Date: Ox 5, June
1853 Robinson: T297 |
Title: Raikô Ôeyama iri no zu (大江山入之図) Description: Raikô severing the head of the Shuten-dôji,
which springs into the air while Raikô’s followers
destroy other demons Publisher: Yamamoto-ya Heikichi Date: Ox 5, June
1853 Robinson: T298 |
Title: Tamatori-hime at the Dragon Palace (Ryûgû Tamatori-hime no zu, 龍宮玉取姫之圖) Description: Tamatori-hime, the ama
who stole the sacred jewel, pursued through the waves by a great dragon and
various sea creatures Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei Date: Ox 6, July
1853 Robinson: T299 |
Title: Lifelike
Dolls in the Inner Temple at Asakusa (Asakusa
okuyama iki ningyô, 浅草奥山 生人形) Description: About 1855-6,
the above triptych was reprinted with a different title Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei Robinson: T299a
(described but not assigned a number) NOTE: For
additional information, see Modern
Select Dolls. I am grateful to
Robert Pryor for locating this image. |
Title: Kurikaradani kassen: Kiso
Yoshinaka Heishô Tomonori wo uchitori
(倶利伽羅谷合戦: 木曽義仲平將智教をうちとり) Description: The Battle of
Kurikaradani in 1183: Yoshinaka kills the Taira
commander Tomonori, while Kagekiyo fells three of
the oxen with burning brushwood attached to their horns by which the Taira
were thrown into a panic Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei Date: Ox 6, July
1853 Robinson: T300 |
Title: Tsuzoku Sangokushi no uchi
(通俗三国志之内, Popular
History of the Three Kingdoms) Subtitle: Hakumonro ni Sôsô Ryofu wo kiru no zu Description: The captives Ryofu, Kôjun and Chinkyû brought before Gentoku
(top right, future Chinese Emperor Chao Lieh) and Sôsô (second from top right, the king of Gi). This is a scene from the Chinese historical
novel ‘Tsuzoku Sangokushi’ (The Rise and Fall of
Three Kingdoms, 220-280 CE). Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô Date: Ox 8,
September 1853 Robinson: T301 NOTE: This triptych
is part of the Tsûzoku Sangokushi no uchi
(Popular History of the Three Kingdoms) series. |
Title: Tsuzoku Sangokushi no uchi
(通俗三国志之内, Popular
History of the Three Kingdoms) Subtitle: Ryofu wo ou to shite Tôtaku niwa (呂布追董卓庭与轄) Description: Ryofu flees (left) as the gross Tôtaku
falls backwards and Riju hastens to his aid with Lady Chôsen
watching from a balcony (right) Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô Date: Ox 8,
September 1853 Robinson: T302 NOTE: This triptych
is part of the Tsûzoku Sangokushi no uchi
(Popular History of the Three Kingdoms) series. |
Title: Hokkoku ô-kassen
(The Battle of Kurikaradani, 北國大合戦) Description: The Battle of
Kurikaradani in 1183: Yoshinaka struggling with
Tomonori, while Unno Kotarô has just knocked a man
and his horse over a cliff Publisher: Izumi-ya Ichibei Date: Ox 8,
September 1853 Robinson: T303 I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this
image. |
Title: Kenkyû yo-nen go-gwatsu nijûhachi-nichi Soga kyôdai ada-uchi no zu Description: The Soga
brothers about to strike down Kudô Suketsune in his
tent by a smoking brazier on Publisher: Maru-ya Jimpachi Date: Ox 9, October
1853 Robinson: T304 |
Title: Ôeyama fukuju shusei (大江山福寿酒盛, The Drinking Party on Mount Ôe) Description: Raikô and his men entertaining the Shuten-dôji
and his demons with sake and
dancing Publisher: Ki-ya Sôjirô Date: Ox 10,
November 1853 Robinson: T305 |
Title: Tsûzoku Sangokushi no uchi:
Bachô ôi ni sui-kyô ni
tatakau (A Popular Romance of the Three
Kingdoms: One Scene about the Battle between Ma Chao and Cao Cao at bridge of Wei River, 通俗三国 志之内馬超大戦 渭水橋曹操髭切敗走) Description: Battle
between Bachô and Sôsô Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô Date: Ox 11,
December 1853 Robinson: T306 NOTE: Engravings of European paintings were available
in Japan in Kuniyoshi’s time, and this triptych may have been influenced by
Paolo Uccello’s 'Battle of San Romano': |
Title: Tsûzoku Sangokushi no uchi:
Ryû Gentoku Hokkai e kakomi otoku (A Popular
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, 通俗三国志之内: 劉玄徳北海解圍) Description: Kwanu (left), Gentoku (center)
and Chôhi (right) in an engagement outside a castle Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô Date: Ox 11,
December 1853 Robinson: T307 |
“Robinson” refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement. CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN
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