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「蒙古賊船退治之図」
Relations between Japan and the Western powers were especially tense in the spring of 1863, when the British navy bombarded the Japanese city of Satsuma in retaliation for the killing of an Englishman. Kyōsai’s triptych alludes to a famous historical event of the thirteenth century, when the Mongol fleet attempting to invade Japan was sunk by a typhoon known as the "divine wind" (kamikaze). However, the ships and costumes of the "Mongols" are very Western in appearance.
Repelling the Mongol Pirate Ships (Môko zokusen taiji no zu)
「蒙古賊船退治之図」
Japanese
Edo period
1863 (Bunkyû 3), 8th month
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Vertical ôban triptych; 37.8 x 76.5 cm (14 7/8 x 30 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.18148-50
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
Relations between Japan and the Western powers were especially tense in the spring of 1863, when the British navy bombarded the Japanese city of Satsuma in retaliation for the killing of an Englishman. Kyōsai’s triptych alludes to a famous historical event of the thirteenth century, when the Mongol fleet attempting to invade Japan was sunk by a typhoon known as the "divine wind" (kamikaze). However, the ships and costumes of the "Mongols" are very Western in appearance.
Catalogue Raisonné
Bakumatsu Meiji no tensai eshi Kawanabe Kyôsai ten (1998), #90; Edo-Tokyo Museum, Kawanabe Kyôsai to Edo Tôkyô (1994), #31; Clark, Demon of Painting (1993), p. 117, fig. 74.1; Konishi, Nishiki-e Bakumatsu Meiji no rekishi 3 (1977), pp. 14-5; Asai 1, p. 82
DescriptionTriptych: 11.18148 (left), 11.18149 (right), 11.18150 (center)
Signed
Seisei Kyôsai (on left sheet)
惺々狂斎
惺々狂斎
Marks
Censor's seal: Boar 8 aratame
No blockcutter's mark
改印：亥八改
彫師：なし
No blockcutter's mark
改印：亥八改
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 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (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.
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.