Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Tales in the Round: Manjū Netsuke and Japanese Woodblock Prints

(from 30th Apr until 22nd Sep 2013)

Discover dramatic episodes from Japanese culture in these exquisitely carved objects and prints.

Detail of a manju netsuke depicting Minamoto Yoshitsune practising martial arts with a tengu demon,
The witch of Adachigahara at Ōkute Stationfront

© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

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The witch of Adachigahara at Ōkute Station

  • Description

    The witch of Adachigahara is shown at night, wielding a large knife over a young girl. The witch sought the blood of girls which was used to cure her lord of sickness. She. In the background a shadowy figure of the thousand-armed Kannon appears to protect the maiden. Despite her dreadful deeds, the witch was eventually pardoned for showing such loyalty. The witch of Adachigahara is also depitced on the netsuke EA2001.111 and EA2001.60.

  • Details

    show all
    Series
    Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō Road
    Associated place
    Asia › Japan › Honshū › Kantō › Tōkyō prefecture › Tōkyō (place of creation)
    Asia › Japan › Honshū › Kantō › Tōkyō prefecture › Tōkyō (place of publication)
    Asia › Japan (Okute) (subject)
    Date
    published July 1852
    Artist/maker
    Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 - 1861) (designer)
    Ōtaya Takichi (active c. 1848 - 1867) (block cutter)
    Associated people
    Yahata Sakujirō (active c. 1852) (publisher)
    Mera Ta’ichirō (active c. 1848 - 1853) (censor)
    Watanabe Shoemon (active c. 1849 - 1853) (censor)
    Material and technique
    nishiki-e (multi-block) woodblock print, with bokashi (tonal gradation)
    Dimensions
    mount 55.5 x 40.3 cm (height x width)
    sheet 36 x 24.5 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    processed material › paper
    Technique index
    printed › relief print › woodcut › colour woodcut
    Object type index
    visual representation › print
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Presented by George Grigs, Miss Elizabeth Grigs, and Miss Susan Messer, in memory of Derick Grigs, 1971.
    Accession no.
    EA1971.93

  • Further reading

    Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 23 April-22 September 2013, Manjū: Netsuke from the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Joyce Seaman, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2013), illus. p. 174 fig. 53

Glossary (2)

netsuke, nishiki-e

  • netsuke

    The netsuke is a form of toggle that was used to secure personal items suspended on cords from the kimono sash. These items included purses, medicine cases or tobacco paraphernalia.

  • nishiki-e

    Nishiki-e literally means 'brocade pictures' and refers to multi-coloured woodblock prints.

Past Exhibition

see (1)

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Notice

Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.

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