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

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

Yakusha-e: Kabuki Prints, a Continuing Tradition

(from 29th Nov 2011 until 4th Mar 2012)

Discover the brightly coloured woodblock prints of actors from Japanese popular theatre.

Detail of The actor Nakamura Shikan IV as the fisherman Fukashichi, Tōkyō, 1869 (Museum No: EA1971.2
The actor Arashi Otohachi III as the evil priest Bungyūfront

© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

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The actor Arashi Otohachi III as the evil priest Bungyū

  • Description

    Hakkenden, or ‘The Eight Dog Chronicles’, was originally a 106-volume epic novel written over 28 years by the writer Takizawa Bakin (1767-1848). Set in the turbulent civil wars of the sixteenth century, it recounts the adventures of eight samurai brothers. With its strong themes of loyalty and family honour, Confucianism, Buddhism and the warrior code of bushidō, it was first adapted for the kabuki stage in 1834. Kunisada produced a number of prints of this subject.

  • Details

    show all
    Series
    The Book of the Eight Dog Heroes
    Associated place
    Asia › Japan › Honshū › Kantō › Tōkyō prefecture › Tōkyō (place of creation)
    Asia › Japan › Honshū › Kantō › Tōkyō prefecture › Tōkyō (place of publication)
    Date
    designed 1852
    Artist/maker
    Utagawa Kunisada (1823-1880) (designer)
    Tsushimo Shōjirō (active c. 1852) (block cutter)
    Takizawa Bakin (1767 - 1848) (author)
    Associated people
    Tsutaya Kichizō (active c. 1830 - 1880) (publisher)
    Arashi Otohachi III (1786 - 1854) (subject)
    Murata Heiemon (active 1843 - 1853) (censor)
    Kinugasa Fusajirō (active c. 1843 - 1853) (censor)
    Material and technique
    Woodblock
    Dimensions
    mount 55.5 x 40.2 cm (height x width)
    sheet 36.1 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.
    EA1971.217

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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