Kuniyoshi: The Cat Witch of Okabe (Sold)

Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Title: The Cat-Witch of Okabe
Series: “Fifty-three Parallels for the Tôkaidô Road”.
Date: ca. 1845

The Cat-Witch of Okabe and a terrified girl victim. Andreas Marks has translated the description in the cartouche: “If you follow the ivy path above the level precinct of the shrine, you will find a stone called the Cat Stone (Nekoishi). This gigantic rock nestled behind six or seven old pine trees looks like a cat lying down. There was once a house in this very location where an old wildcat transformed itself into an old woman and harmed and tormented a lot of local people. However, the cat could not escape its own fate and died. People handed down by word of mouth the belief that the ghost of the cat turned into the stone, but there is no certain evidence for that.” The matter-of-fact tone of reportage is interesting.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. 
Dimensions: ôban
Publisher: Iba-ya Kyûbei
Signature: Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi ga 
LIterature: See Tôkaidô Texts and Tales, edited by Andreas Marks, page 84, number 22.

SKU: KUC216