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「武者絵形子供遊 頼政」
A young lady giggles as her two little brothers act out a story from a picturebook, perhaps the very same book now being used upside-down to imitate a court hat. The ancient warrior Minamoto Yorimasa, a great archer, was called in when the Emperor’s sleep was disturbed by a strange monster—part monkey, part tiger, part snake--flying over the palace. He shot it down, and his retainer I no Hayata dispatched it with a sword. In the children’s charade, the family cat, a Japanese bobtail, plays the part of the monster.
Yorimasa, from the series Children's Games Patterned on Pictures of Warriors (Musha egata kodomo asobi)
「武者絵形子供遊 頼政」
Kitagawa Utamaro I (Japanese, early 1750s–1806)
Japanese
Edo period
1805 (Bunka 2), 12th month
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Vertical ôban; 37 x 26.1 cm (14 9/16 x 10 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Captain John C. Phillips
Accession Number18.303
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
A young lady giggles as her two little brothers act out a story from a picturebook, perhaps the very same book now being used upside-down to imitate a court hat. The ancient warrior Minamoto Yorimasa, a great archer, was called in when the Emperor’s sleep was disturbed by a strange monster—part monkey, part tiger, part snake--flying over the palace. He shot it down, and his retainer I no Hayata dispatched it with a sword. In the children’s charade, the family cat, a Japanese bobtail, plays the part of the monster.
Catalogue Raisonné
The series: Ukiyo-e shûka 3 (1978), list #514 (this design not listed)
DescriptionUnidentified publisher's mark (Genshoku #1011).
Signed
Utamaro hitsu
歌麿筆
歌麿筆
Marks
Censor's seals: kiwame, Ox 12
改印：極
改印：極
Provenance1918, gift of Captain John C. Phillips to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 16, 1918)