Creative Commons License
Zashiki juku doke Chushingura
(Japan and Korea )
Kyosai here turns "seppuku" (ritualized suicide) into something treated humorously: suicide by disembowelment is about to be performed on a blowfish. This print represents a scene from a play that parodies one of the most popular dramas in Japan, "Kanadehon Chushingura." Based on a true story, the original play is about forty-seven loyal samurai sworn to avenge their master's death. In Act 5, the father-in-law of Kampei, one of the samurai, is robbed and murdered by a bandit. Kampei, however, mistakenly thinks he himself is responsible, and so in Act 6 he performs "seppuku."
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
C. Robert Snell, Oriental Arts & Antiques, Timonium, Maryland; purchased by Justine Lewis Keidel, Owings Mills, Maryland, after 1971; given to Walters Art Museum, 1991.
Geographies
Japan, Tokyo (Place of Origin)
Measurements
7 x 9 1/2 in. (17.78 x 24.13 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Justine Lewis Keidel, 1991
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
95.652
