Description
It is the snowy dawn of December 14, 1702 and the forty-seven ronin, after a long march led by Oboshi Yuranosuke (大星由良之助), have laid the head of the evil Ko no Moronao (高師直) in front of the grave of their lord En’ya Hangan (塩冶判官) to prostrate and burn incense among the prayers of the monks of the Sengakuji temple (泉岳寺).
The woodcut presented here, dedicated to the twelfth act (十二段目) of the play entitled “The Treasury of Loyal Retainers” (假名手本忠臣蔵), is taken from a homonymous series of prints made between 1851 and 1852 by the artist Utagawa Kuniteru (歌川国輝).
The print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), produced by the publisher Izumiya Ichibei (和泉屋市兵衛), despite the presence of a slight central vertical fold and some signs of aging including small holes and restorations, is in fair general condition.
