Toyohara Chikanobu 豊原周延

Female Legend of the Water Margin (Onna suikoden 女水滸傳)
Recent Acquisition

Maker

Toyohara Chikanobu 豊原周延 (Japanese, 1838-1912, b. in Echigo, Japan)

Title

Female Legend of the Water Margin (Onna suikoden 女水滸傳)

Period

Meiji Period

Year

1883

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Dimensions

Vertical ōban triptych: 35.5 x 71 cm (14 x 27 15/16 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Elizabeth T. and Dorothy N. Casey Fund

Object Number

2022.20.2

Type

Exhibition History

Defying Boundaries
Women in Japanese Art
Apr 27, 2024 – Nov 04, 2024

Label copy

Depicted amidst lightning bolts and falling petals, six armed female figures are dressed in vibrant robes decorated with fantastical creatures. These dramatic figures take center stage in this visualization of the Chinese martial-arts novel The Legend of the Water Margins (Suikoden 水滸傳). Considered as one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature, this book relates the exploits of 108 bandits esteemed for their bravery. During Japan’s Edo period (1615–1868) the Suikoden was highly popular, and readapted for theater productions and illustrated in woodblock prints. This triptych presents a readaptation in which the male bandits are all replaced with heroic females. 

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Toyohara Chikanobu 豊原周延 (Japanese, 1838-1912, b. in Echigo, Japan)
Female Legend of the Water Margin (Onna suikoden 女水滸傳), 1883
Polychrome woodblock-printed triptych
Vertical ōban triptych: 35.5 x 71 cm (14 x 27 15/16 inches)
Elizabeth T. and Dorothy N. Casey Fund 2022.20.2

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