UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)

Name: Miyamoto No Musashi Attacking the Giant Whale
Brand: UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Price: 40000.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

Price Realised GBP 50,000

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GBP 20,000 - GBP 30,000

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Miyamoto No Musashi Attacking the Giant Whale

UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)

Price Realised GBP 50,000

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)
Miyamoto no Musashi attacking the Giant Whale
Miyamoto no Musashi attacking the Giant Whale

Woodblock triptych, signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga, sealed Kiri, published by Kawaguchiya Shozo, circa 1847-50
Vertical oban triptych (35.2 x 73.6cm.)

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Lot Essay

In this iconic and rare print, Miyamoto Musashi (1583-1647), famed as a sword master and inventor of the two-sword style of fencing (nito-ryu), is shown plunging his sword into a giant whale off the coast of Higo (present-day Kumamoto prefecture). The clever composition shows the triptych format at its best; exaggerating the whale's form so that it almost completely fills the entire picture frame, producing an extremely powerful image.

For another impression in the collection of the Royal Scottish Museums, Edinburgh, see Robert Schaap, Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi 1797-1861, (The Netherlands, 1998), p.88, no.69.