Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (artist 11/15/1797 – 03/05/1861)
Bai Sheng, the Daylight Rat, (Hakujisso Hakushō - 白日鼠白勝), from the series One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Shuihuzhuan (Tsūzoku Suikoden gōketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori - 通俗水滸伝豪傑百八人之一個)
ca 1827 – 1830
10 in x 14.875 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga
一勇斎国芳画
Publisher: Kagaya Kichiemon
(Marks 195 - seal 22-025)
Censor's seal: kiwame
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Tokyo National Museum
Lyon Collection - Yoshiharu print of Bai Sheng
Royal Museums of Art and History, Belgium (via Cultural Japan)
Art Institute of Chicago Hakujisso Hakushō was a bit of a shiftless fellow when he was talked into joining a group of thieves, i.e., members of the 108 Heroes. They get involved in a number of different escapades. In one they go to save the lives of two of their jailed cohorts. Hakujisso Hakushō, disguised as a snake charmer, puts his box of snakes to good use.
This print is illustrated in Of Brigands and Bravery by Inge Klompmakers, p. 91.
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There is another copy of this print in the Hachinohe Clinic Machikado Museum.
Kagaya Kichiemon (加賀屋吉右衛門) (publisher)
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Suikoden (水滸傳) (genre)