Page 42 - Sothebys Fine Japanese Art London, November 2018

PROPERTY OF AN ENGLISH LADY

49

UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1798-1861) This example is an earlier printing where the horns are still
THE GHOSTS OF THE TAIRA ATTACK present on the ghosts - in later versions the horns were cut off,
YOSHITSUNE IN DAIMOTSU BAY the reason for which is unknown.
EDO PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY For a similar impression in the collection of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, accession number JP1565, go to:
歌川国芳（1798 – 1861）、大物の浦平家の亡霊、
江戸時代、 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection
For two further examples of this print in the collection of the
woodblock triptych, each sheet signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga, Museum of Fine Art, Boston, accession numbers 11.30566A-C,
published by Enshuya Hikobei, circa 1849-1852 1992.568A-C, go to: https://www.mfa.org/collections/search
49.6 x 91 cm, 19½ x 35⅘ in.
For further reading and additional impressions, including
The work depicts the ghosts of the Taira family exacting the first edition, see Robert Schaap, Heroes and Ghosts,
revenge upon Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-1189). Following (Amsterdam, 1998), p.101, and Yuriko Iwakiri and Amy Reigle
their brutal defeat during a historic battle at Daimotsu bay. Newland, Kuniyoshi: Japanese Master of Imagined Worlds,
The ghosts of the Taira clan are silhouetted against a dark sky (Leiden, 2013), p.61
as they attack Yoshitsune’s ship and the troops can be seen
lowering the boat’s sails as the gigantic waves rise up. The noh £ 8,000-10,000
play Funa Benkei [Benkei in the Boat] recounts this episode, € 9,100-11,300 US$ 10,600-13,200
which eventually ends well for Yoshitsune and his men due
to Yoshitsune’s faithful retainer, the monk Benkei, who offers
prayers to the gods of the sea, causing the angry ghosts to
disappear.

40 SOTHEBY’S