Kanadehon Chushingura Act one: P.3195-R

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Kanadehon Chushingura Act one
E-kyodai Chushingura
Sibling pictures of the Chushingura

Maker(s)

Entities

Description

Colour print from woodblocks. Oban. 1830s. Signed: Kochoro Kunisada ga with double toshidama seal. Publisher's seal: Kikakudo (Sanoya Kihei). Censor's seal: kiwame.
From the series E-kyodai Chushingura (Sibling pictures of the Chushingura) in which scenes from the Kabuki play, Kanadehon Chushingura (Model for Kana Calligraphy: Treasury of the Forty Seven Loyal Retainers) are compared to women engaged in everyday life. In the background is the 'Helmet judging' scene (Kabuto aratame) at the Hachiman shrine in Kamakura. Lady Kaoyo holds the helmet given by the Emperor to the warrior Yoshisada, which she has identified from a choice of forty seven found on the battlefield where he was killed. The shogun wanted to make an offering of his enemy's helmet to the shrine. In the foreground a woman uncovers the usual New Year arrangement of lobster, bitter orange (yuzu), ferns and dwarf bamboo, echoing the depiction of the helmet in the background. The lobster is associated with honourable old age because its body is bent double.