Description
Important original woodblock print of vertical large oban (大判) format, made by the artist Utagawa Yoshiharu (歌川芳春) and depicting Senkaji Choo (舩火兒張横), one of the characters of “the story by the water margin” Suikoden (水滸伝), the famous Chinese novel which tells the adventurous epic of a gang of 108 outlaws. The man sports a magnificent eagle tattoo and draws his sword to protect himself from a monstrous creature emerging from a palm tree.
The work is signed at the bottom left “Ichibaisai Yoshiharu ga” (一梅斎芳春画), is titled “Senkaji Choo, the Boatman” (舩火兒張横) and is taken from the series “Mirror of Heroes of the Suikoden” (水滸傳豪傑鏡).
The rare print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), produced in December 1856 by the publisher Yamaguchiya Tobei (山口屋藤兵衛), owner of Kinkodo (錦耕堂), shows evident signs of aging including imperfections and restorations on the margins as well as small holes and in particular binding holes.
