Original Japanese Woodblock by Utagawa Kuniteru (1808-1876), Act 9 of the Play Chushingura (the 47 Ronins), 1855

A coloured woodblock by Japanese artist, Utagawa Kuniteru, who was active between 1818 and 1860. It depicts a scene from the Chushingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers), involving the forty-seven r?nin and their mission to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori.. The circular aratame (censorship) seal is accompanied by an oval zodiacal date seal, dating it to the third month of the year of the Hare, 1855.

The woodblock has signs of age and a fold but the colours are still bright and there are no tears or holes.

Kuniteru II Utagawa was born in Edo (Tokyo). He studied under both Kunisada and Toyokuni I. He produced prints of a wide variety of subjects, including many depicting the increasing Western influence on Japan, with his main output taking the form of book illustrations and single-sheet ukiyo-e. He called himself Kunitsuna II or Ichiransai until the Ganji era (1864/1865).

Scenes from kabuki plays are typical of Ukiyo-e (‘floating world’) woodcuts which depicted the pleasures of the Edo period (1603 – 1867). This woodcut illustrates Act 9, Yamashina kankyo no ba ("The Retreat at Yamashina"). Set in the depths of winter, Kakogawa Honz?‘s wife Tonase, and daughter Konami, arrive at Yuranosuke‘s home in Yamashina near Kyoto. Yuranosuke‘s wife is adamant that after all that has happened there can be no possibility of marriage between Konami and Rikiya. In despair, Tonase and Konami decide to take their own lives. Just then, Honz? arrives disguised as a wandering priest. To atone for his part in restraining Hangan from killing Moron?, he deliberately pulls Rikiya‘s spear into his own stomach and, dying, gives Yuranosuke and Rikiya a plan of Moron?‘s mansion in Edo.