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,
Hazy Night Moon: Kumasakafront

© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

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Hazy Night Moon: Kumasaka

  • Description

    Kumasaka no Chōhan, the ghost of an outlaw priest, strikes a dramatic pose in the Nō play ‘Kumasaka’. He is dressed in elaborate robes, the trousers decorated with thunderbolts and the upper robe with the comma design associated with Raiden, the god of thunder.

    Kumasaka was killed when he attacked the retinue accompanying the young Minamoto no Yoshitsune, who had studied martial arts with the tengu demons.

  • Details

    show all
    Series
    One Hundred Aspects of the Moon
    Associated place
    Asia › Japan › Honshū › Kantō › Tōkyō prefecture › Tōkyō (place of creation)
    Asia › Japan › Honshū › Kantō › Tōkyō prefecture › Tōkyō (place of publication)
    Date
    published 1 August 1887
    Artist/maker
    Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839 - 1892) (designer)
    Yamamoto (active c. 1887) (block cutter)
    Associated people
    Akiyama Buemon (active c. 1882 - 1920s) (publisher)
    Kumasaka no Chōhan (active 12th century) (subject)
    Material and technique
    nishiki-e (multi-block) woodblock print
    Dimensions
    mount 55.6 x 40.4 cm (height x width)
    sheet 39.5 x 27 cm (height x width)
    print 37.1 x 24.9 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.
    EA1971.176

Glossary (2)

nishiki-e, tengu

  • nishiki-e

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

  • tengu

    Tengu are powerful mountain goblins. Two types appear in Japanese art, one with a long nose, and the other with a beak and claws. One identifying feature of both is a feathered fan.

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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