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Attributed to Kitao Shigemasa

Chapter 7 of the 11 chapters of Chushingura (The treasury of loyal retainers) (Chushingura shichidanme junimaizoku), 1780's

Description

Maker

Title

Chapter 7 of the 11 chapters of Chushingura (The treasury of loyal retainers) (Chushingura shichidanme junimaizoku)

Year

1780's

Medium

Polychrome woodblock print

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Techniques

Supports

Dimensions

Image: 25.6 x 18.9 cm (10 1/16 x 7 7/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription verso, bottom center: EGR220

Place

Japan

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

20.1092

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Poets, Heroes, and Courtiers

September 6 - December 1, 2002

The Treasury of Loyal Retainers (Chūsingura) tells the tale of the forty-seven rōnin, or masterless samurai, who diligently plotted to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Asano was humiliated by Kira Yoshinaka, an official at the court of the shogun; after Asano drew his sword against Kira, he was ordered to commit suicide. Two years later, Asano’s loyal retainers stormed Kira’s mansion and killed him.

In this illustration, Yuranosuke, one of the plotters, realizes that he has been observed reading a secret letter and leads Okaru, the young woman spying on him, down a ladder. Okaru has just been sold as a courtesan and is in service at the Ichiriki Teahouse in the Gion district in Kyoto, where Yuranosuke had been pretending dissipation and complete indifference to revenge.

Fan-Shaped Bird and Flower Prints from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Collection

May 11 - June 30, 1990

The small title label at the upper right corner identifies this scene of debauchery as that of Act Seven from the Kabuki play, Chushingura, based on a story about forty-seven samurai who, despite terrible hardship, complete a vendetta against the lord who caused their master to commit suicide.

The leader and symbol of unswerving loyalty, Yuranosuke, must pretend to have fallen into a life of irresponsible pleasure in order to waylay suspicions regarding his true intentions. At the Ichiriki Teahouse, he flirts with the courtesan Okaru, whom he suspects has spied him reading an important letter. The folding fan in Yuranosuke's hand, normally emblematic of courtly elegance, here acccentuates the hero's show of lecherous frivolity.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Chapter 7 of the 11 chapters of Chushingura (The treasury of loyal retainers) (Chushingura shichidanme junimaizoku) with the accession number of 20.1092. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.