歌川国芳 · 朝櫻樓 · 賢女烈婦傳
1797/98–1861 · pupil of Toyokuni I, master of the dramatic print
賢女烈婦傳
From Kenjo reppu-den — "Lives of Wise and Heroic Women"
| Artist | Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳, 1797/98–1861) — signed Chōōrō Kuniyoshi ga (朝櫻樓國芳画) |
| Series | 賢女烈婦傳 — Kenjo reppu-den, "Lives of Wise and Heroic Women" (Biographies of Wise Women and Virtuous Wives) |
| Subject | 山吹御前 Yamabuki Gozen — a consort of the warrior Kiso (Minamoto no) Yoshinaka |
| Scene | Seated at her needlework, a threaded needle raised in one hand and the thread held to her lips to cut it, her lacquer sewing-box beside her, a suit of red-laced armour at the right |
| Date | c. early 1840s (c. 1841–43) |
| Publisher | Ibaya Sensaburō (伊場屋仙三郎, "Ibasen") |
| Technique | Woodblock print (mokuhanga), nishiki-e — with finely carved hair and richly patterned textiles |
| Format | Ōban tate-e (single sheet) — approx. 36 × 25 cm (14¼ × 9¾ in.) |
| Signature & seals | Signed Chōōrō Kuniyoshi ga; red title cartouche 賢女烈婦傳; biographical text-panel above; publisher's seal in the lower margin |
| Holdings | This design is held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the series is represented in the British Museum and the Rijksmuseum |
IMPRESSION & COLOURS
Very good. A well-printed impression with the fine detail one wants in a Kuniyoshi bijin design — the delicately carved strands of the hair, the crisp indigo and coral of the robes, the soft bokashi in the dark upper corners, and the golden yamabuki blossoms picked out across the kimono. Colours are fresh and well balanced.
PAPER
Very Good. Light, even toning consistent with age, entirely normal for a sheet of the early 1840s. With some minor repairs barely visible, and minor trimming to the margins outside the image area; the image itself is unaffected.
Kuniyoshi shows Yamabuki Gozen caught in a quiet, intimate act: she kneels at her needlework, a threaded needle raised in her outstretched hand and the thread drawn up to her lips to bite it through, her lacquer sewing-box open on the cloth before her. It is a portrait not of battle but of devotion — the lady mending and preparing the gear of her warrior husband, whose red-laced armour rests at the right with a wisp of smoke curling above it.
The detail a collector will love is the wordplay woven into her robe. Yamabuki is the kerria rose, the bright yellow flower of late spring — and Kuniyoshi scatters golden yamabuki blossoms across her indigo kimono, a silent visual pun on her very name. Around them runs a sumptuous play of pattern: tortoiseshell hexagons (kikkō) filled with florets, a sky-blue sash of clouds, and coral grounds — the textile virtuosity for which Kuniyoshi and his school were famous.
The biographical cartouche above tells her story in miniature, naming Kiso Yoshinaka, the warrior-woman Tomoe, and Yoshinaka's son Shimizu no Kanja Yoshitaka — the world of the Genpei War to which this gentle scene quietly belongs.
Yamabuki Gozen was a consort of Kiso (Minamoto no) Yoshinaka (1154–1184), the brilliant and ill-fated general of the Genpei War who swept the Taira from the capital before being destroyed by his own kinsman Yoritomo. Yoshinaka is forever linked with two women: the celebrated warrior Tomoe Gozen, who rode at his side in armour, and Yamabuki — remembered instead for her devotion, and said in the old accounts to have remained behind, ill, when Yoshinaka rode to his last campaign.
It is precisely that contrast that makes her a fitting subject for this series. Where Tomoe embodies martial courage, Yamabuki embodies steadfast loyalty — and Kuniyoshi gives her the timeless, telling gesture of a wife at her sewing, tending the very armour in which her lord will ride away.
Kenjo reppu-den ("Lives of Wise and Heroic Women") is one of Kuniyoshi's most appealing figure series, a gallery of celebrated women from history and legend — empresses and poets, loyal wives and warrior heroines — each shown half- or full-length with a biographical text-panel recounting her story. Among her companions in the set are Tomoe Gozen, the poet Izumi Shikibu, the tragic Kesa Gozen, and Tokiwa Gozen.
Published in the early 1840s by Ibaya Sensaburō, the series belongs to the years just after the Tenpō Reforms, when virtuous and improving subjects such as these found official favour — and it let Kuniyoshi pour his gifts into the costume, character and storytelling he loved. This design is held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with the series also represented in the British Museum and the Rijksmuseum.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797/98–1861) is one of the great masters of the ukiyo-e tradition. Born in Edo and trained under Toyokuni I, he made his name with the heroes of the Suikoden and went on to become the supreme designer of warrior prints — but his range was vast, taking in beauties, landscapes, cats, ghosts and satire with equal invention.
Series such as Kenjo reppu-den show the other side of that talent: a tender, observant gift for the human figure and a connoisseur's delight in pattern and costume. His work is held in the British Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Victoria and Albert Museum and major institutions worldwide.
A quietly affecting Kuniyoshi that rewards a second look — the yamabuki blossoms punning on the heroine's name, the sewing gesture that turns a Genpei legend into something humane and immediate, and the gorgeous textile work throughout. A documented design held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this makes a handsome and characterful entry point into Kuniyoshi's celebrated Kenjo reppu-den.
Shipping: Shipped flat, protected between acid-free tissue and rigid boards, by tracked and insured international post. Ships from Germany.
Guarantee: Original Japanese woodblock print, c. early 1840s. Guaranteed authentic. Full refund if not as described.