YOSHIMORI – Minamoto no Yoshiie receives the imperial...

Artist: Utagawa (Ikkōsai) Yoshimori 歌川芳盛 (1830–1884), pupil of Kuniyoshi Title: Minamoto no Yoshiie Ason Ōshū Seibatsu no Zu (源義家朝臣奥州征罸之圖), "Lord Minamoto no Yoshiie's Punitive Expedition to Ōshū" Subject: Yoshiie (labelled on the sheet as Hachiman Tarō Yoshiie 八幡太郎義家) receiving the imperial order for his campaign in the north Format: Ōban triptych, each sheet approx. [36 × 24 cm] Technique: Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and colour on paper Date: Bunkyū 3 (1863), 1st month Publisher: Sagamiya Tōkichi (Aitō 相卜), Shitaya Signature: Ikkōsai Yoshimori ga (一光斎芳盛画), on each sheet Collections: The design is held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, National Museums Scotland and the New Mexico Museum of Art Condition: Two sheets have very good impression with fresh colour throughout. The paper is firm with a subtle texture. The third sheet has many issues including mild stains and scuffs. Please refer to the images for full detail! About the print Minamoto no Yoshiie (1039–1106), known as Hachiman Tarō, the "first son of Hachiman", was the most celebrated warrior of the Heian period and an ancestor of the Minamoto shoguns. He fought in the north-eastern province of Mutsu (Ōshū) twice: first with his father Yoriyoshi in the Former Nine Years' War, and later as commander in the Later Three Years' War. These campaigns made him the model warrior of the Minamoto line. This triptych places him at court rather than on the battlefield. National Museums Scotland describes the scene as the delivery of the imperial commission to Yoshiie for his expedition into Mutsu. A court attendant carries the document down the palace steps while Yoshiie kneels below among the assembled retainers. The design was published in the first month of 1863. That spring the shogun Iemochi travelled to Kyoto to meet the emperor, the first such visit in more than two hundred years, and publishers issued many prints of warriors appearing before the court that year.

Estimate:£126.92

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