Yoshitoshi: Watanabe no Tsuna in 976 (Sold)

Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Title: Watanabe no Tsuna in 976
Series: Caricature of Yoshitoshi: Yoshitoshi manga
Date: 1885

On September 9, 976 Watanabe no Tsuna (953-1025), a warrior of the Heian Period spent the night on the way home after killing a demon in Kyoto. Here we see the demoness Ibaraki, who has disguised herself as a helpless old woman, as she peers into the box that contains her arm. Watanabe no Tsuna had cut it off the night before, as she attacked him from above. She had pursuaded Watanabe no Tsuna to open it for her--he sits across from her, of stern mien. This is a frozen dramatic moment, the instant before she grabs the arm and flies away with it. Yoshitoshi chose to illustrate parts of this story in many of his prints.

Dimensions: ôban horizontal diptych
Publisher: Kobayashi Tetsujirô
Seal: Carver’s:’Hori-kô En-katsu’
Signature: Yoshitoshi ga with his red square seal ‘Yoshitoshi no in’

SKU: YOT251