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DEACESSIONED October 25, 2012

The Ink Battle (Bokusen no zu)


「墨戦之図」
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese, 1797–1861)
Publisher: San (in fan shape) (Japanese)
Japanese
Edo period
1843 (Tenpô 14), 8th month

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical ôban triptych; 36.5 x 74.7 cm (14 3/8 x 29 7/16 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.16529-31
ClassificationsPrints

Catalogue Raisonné Minami, Edo no fûshiga (1997), pp. 110-11, fig. 26; Inagaki and Isao, Kuniyoshi no kyôga (1991), #77
DescriptionTriptych: *11.16529 (left), *11.16530 (center), *11.16531 (right)

MFA impressions: *11.16529-31 (deaccessioned in 2012), 11.28786VR (11.28786, 11.28864, 11.28865), 11.28828-30, 11.36490a-c
Signed Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi giga (on each sheet)
一勇斎国芳戯画
Marks No censor's seal
No blockcutter's mark
改印:なし
彫師:なし
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 – d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: August 3, 1911)

NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.