Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (artist 11/15/1797 – 03/05/1861)
Sun Erniang, the Witch (Boyasha Sonnijō - 母夜叉孫二娘) from the series One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Shuihuzhuan (Tsūzoku Suikoden gōketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori - 通俗水滸伝豪傑百八人一個)
ca 1845
10.5 in x 14.75 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga
一勇斎国芳画
Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō
(Marks 127 - seal 22-036)
Censor's seal: Watari
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - published by Kagaya Kichiemon
British Museum - they misidentified the publisher as Kagaya Kichiemon, while their print is carrying the seal of Ibaya Sensaburō
Ritsumeikan University - published by Kagaya Kichiemon
Hagi Uragami Museum of Art - published by Kagaya Kichiemon
Tokyo National Museum - published by Kagaya Kichiemon
Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art
Náprstek Museum - published by Kagaya Kichiemon
Rijksmuseum - published by Kagaya Kichiemon
Musée d’art et d’histoire, Ville de Genève - published by Kagaya Kichiemon We first meet Sun the Witch in Chapter 27 of the Chinese classic about the brigands of the Water Margins. "Wu Song is accompanied by guards to his place of exile. Along the way, they stop at the tavern of Zhang Qing the “Vegetable Gardener” and his wife Sun the “Witch”. Sun likes to drug travelers and make human dumplings out of them. She drugs the guards but Wu Song is wise to her tricks. He traps her but she is saved by her husband, who explains they are all part of the gallant fraternity."
****
The first edition of this print was from 1827-30 and carries the Kagaya Kichibei publisher's seal. Inge Klompmaker's wrote: "There are also examples known that bear a watari censor seal; these were published by Ibaya Senzaburō. Ibaya reissued some of Kuniyoshi's Suikoden prints in the 1840s, albeit with a slightly altered palette." (Page 33 of Brigands and Bravery...)
****
Illustrated:
1) in color in 原色浮世絵大百科事典 (Genshoku Ukiyoe Daihyakka Jiten), vol. 9, p. 13, #8.
2) in color in Catalogue of Japanese Art in the Náprstek Museum published by The International Research Center for Japanese Studies: Nichibunken Japanese Studies Series 4, 1994, p. 92. Listed as Moyasha Sonjirō.
3) in a full-page in a color reproduction in Of Brigands and Bravery: Kuniyoshi's Heroes of the Suikoden by Inge Klompmakers, Hotei Publishing, 1998, #45, p. 147.
Ibaya Senzaburō (伊場屋仙三郎) (publisher)
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Suikoden (水滸傳) (genre)