Description
Longnü (龍女), the daughter of the Dragon King (竜王), appears in a dream to Minamoto no Mitsunaka (源満仲) and urges him not to spread the blood of the dragons. In fact, according to legend the famous warrior on one occasion, to defend a village, hunted a dragon and slew it with an arrow. On the top of the work, the fifty year old Mitsunaka observes, instead, a talisman with his youthful features which he had created to protect himself.
The beautiful woodblock print presented here is titled “Mitsunaka’s Dream of the Dragon Lady” (満仲龍女夢) and is taken from the series “Embroidery Pictures, Comparison of the Day and the Night” (東錦昼夜競), made in 1886 by the famous artist Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延).
The work on Japanese washi paper (和紙), printed by the publisher Kobayashi Tetsujiro (小林鉄次郎), is in very good general condition thanks also to a relining carried out on the back.
