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.
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
netsuke, nishiki-e
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 literally means 'brocade pictures' and refers to multi-coloured woodblock prints.
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.
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