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,
Ayame no Mae watches Ii no Hayata slaying the nue, a mythical creaturefront

© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

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Ayame no Mae watches Ii no Hayata slaying the nue, a mythical creature

  • Description

    The Emperor Konoe (1139-1155) had become ill due to a strange presence heralded by a black cloud over the palace. The warrior Minamoto no Yorimasa was sent to investigate it and discovered a peculiar creature, called a nue. Here he stands on the right dressed in court robes having wounded the nue with an arrow. He holds a torch so that Ii no Hayata, in armour, can dispatch it. On a veranda is the court lady Ayame no Mae, whose hand in marriage Minamoto no Yorimasa will earn from the Emperor for ridding the capital of this mysterious menace.

  • Details

    show all
    Associated place
    Asia › Japan › Honshū › Kantō › Tōkyō prefecture › Tōkyō (place of creation)
    Asia › Japan › Honshū › Kantō › Tōkyō prefecture › Tōkyō (place of publication)
    Date
    published 1847 - 1848
    Artist/maker
    Utagawa Kunisada (1823-1880) (designer)
    Associated people
    Yamaguchi Tōbei (active c. 1805 - 1895) (publisher)
    Ayame no Mae (active 12th century) (subject)
    Material and technique
    nishiki-e (multi-block) woodblock print, with bokashi (tonal gradation)
    Dimensions
    mount 55.5 x 35.8 cm (height x width)
    sheet 34.5 x 23.7 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    processed material › paper
    Technique index
    printed › relief print › woodcut › colour woodcut
    Object type index
    visual representation › print › triptych print
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Presented by Christ Church College, University of Oxford, 1983.
    Accession no.
    EA1983.37.c

Glossary (2)

nishiki-e, nue

  • nishiki-e

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

  • nue

    An imaginary creature with a monkey’s head, badger’s body, paws of a tiger, a snake for a tail and with the voice of a golden mountain thrush (toratsugumi).

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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