Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (artist 11/15/1797 – 03/05/1861)
Katō Kiyomasa, a vassal of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, killing a tiger
ca 1830
15 in x 9.75 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga
一勇斎国芳画
Publisher's sea in red: Takenouchi Magohachi (not in Marks)
Lyon Collection - Yoshiiku print of this theme
Lyon Collection - Toshinobu print of this theme "During his stay in Corea... Kato Kiyomasa... killed an enormous tiger with his halberd. Kiyomasa is then often portrayed with a halberd with one prong broken off, struck off by the tiger. So legendary has this famous warrior of So legendary has this famous warrior of the 16th century become that after death he was worshipped as a deity under the name of Seishōkō in the temple of the castle of Kumano. As a deity he is said to cure leprosy."
Quoted from: The Animal in Far Eastern Art... by T. Volker, p. 166.
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Illustrated in Kuniyoshi by Juzo Suzuki, Heibon-sha Limited Publishers, 1992, no. 127.
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There are two other prints in the Lyon Collection that deal with this theme. One is by Yoshiiku from 1867 and the other is by Toshinobu from 1879. We have added links above.
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There are a number of unusual aspects to this print: the shape and size, a seal, which as yet remains unknow to us, and could be that of either the artist or a publisher, and the factor that there are no censors' seals. Perhaps it was privately printed and therefore existed outside the rather stringent laws governing the production of woodblock prints.
The speckled ground of this print is meant to imitate an elegant type of paper that is flecked with small particles of gold.
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Historical - Social - Ephemera (genre)
Katō Masakiyo (加藤正清) (role)