Description
We are on the Tokaido (東海道), the most important connecting route between Edo (江戸) and Kyoto (京都). Mount Fuji (富士山), in the background, watches over the gloomy thoughts of the young Konami (小浪), daughter of Honzo (本蔵) and fiance of Rikiya (力弥), as she travels in the company of her stepmother Tonase (戸無瀬) in the hope to carry out the wedding with her samurai who, in the meantime, has become a ronin (浪人).
The precious woodblock print presented here is dedicated to the eighth act (八段目) of the play inspired by the heroic deeds of the forty-seven ronin (四十七士) entitled Chushingura (忠臣蔵), “The Treasury of Loyal Retainers”, and is taken from a homonymous series of prints made by the famous artist Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞).
The work, produced in May 1854 by the publisher Tsutaya Kichizo (蔦屋吉蔵), owner of Koeido (紅英堂), and by the carver Yokokawa Takejiro (横川竹二郎), despite the signs of aging including some paper wrinkles and slight stains, is in overall good condition.
