The Syllable Ri (り): Kaiga Yazaemon Fujiwara no Tomonobu (加伊賀矢左エ門藤原友信) from the series <i>Biographies of the Faithful Samurai</i> (<i>Seichū gishi meimeiden</i> - 誠忠義士銘々傳)
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Utagawa Yoshitora (歌川芳虎: ca. 1836-1887) (artist )

The Syllable Ri (り): Kaiga Yazaemon Fujiwara no Tomonobu (加伊賀矢左エ門藤原友信) from the series Biographies of the Faithful Samurai (Seichū gishi meimeiden - 誠忠義士銘々傳)

Print

05/1866
9.75 in x 14.5 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print

Signed: Kinchōrō Yoshitora ga
錦朝楼芳虎画
Artist's seal: kiri
Publisher: Daikokuya Kinnosuke
(Marks 033)
Combined censor and date seal: 5/1866
(This seal is usually flipped the other way.)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

This syllabary relates directly to the Chūshingura. Not only does the title allude to that story by referring to the figures as 'Faithful Samurai', but the toothed border of the title cartouche is another give away. That pattern mimics the outfits that the ronin avengers wear.

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There are other prints from this series in the collections at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, at Waseda University and in the commercial marketplace.
Daikokuya Kinnosuke (大黒屋金之助) (publisher)
Chūshingura (忠臣蔵 - 47 rōnin) (genre)
mitate-e (見立て絵) (genre)