Description
Fascinating triptych of woodblock prints made around 1850 by the artist Utagawa Yoshitora (歌川芳虎), produced by the publisher Yamadaya Shojiro (山田屋庄次郎), owner of Kinkyodo (錦橋堂), and entitled “The Legend of Omatsu at Kasamatsu Pass” (笠松峠於松が傳). The outlaw Omatsu (於松), often referred to by the epithet “the evil Omatsu” or “the female demon-robber”, is a character from the Kabuki theater loosely based on an historical figure.
She is at the centre of a number of thrilling, but quite contradictory, stories. On this specific occasion we see her depicted, on the left, as she is about to fall victim, together with the band of bandits led by her, of the revenge of the samurai Natsume Sentaro (夏目仙太郎), depicted in the center, in the same mountain pass where the woman had met Sentaro’s father, who had been murdered by her.
The prints on Japanese washi paper (和紙), despite the obvious signs of aging including small restorations and signs of horizontal folding, are in overall good condition, thanks also to an effective relining carried out on the back.
