UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Lot 67PROPERTY OF AN ENGLISH COLLECTOR

UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)

A Fashionable Assortment of Thunderbolts (Ryuko kaminari zukushi)

Fermé18 June 2020

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GBP 3,500

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UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
A Fashionable Assortment of Thunderbolts (Ryuko kaminari zukushi)
Woodblock print,
Signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi giga
Censor's seal kiwame
Published by Ezakiya Tatsuzo (Sengyokudo) and Fujiokaya Hikotaro (Shogendo), 1839
Vertical oban: 36.6 x 25.2 cm. (15.8 x 10 in.)

Note du spécialiste

The demonic attendants of the Shinto god of thunder, Raijin, are shown humorously engaged in the day to day activities of an Edo townsman. The fierce muscular deity and his retinue have met similar treatment in the comedic giga genre of woodblock prints, particularly towards the end of the Edo period. Kuniyoshi shows the demons in various poses, from sharpening thunderbolts in the vein of a blacksmith, to painting in the black colour of the rainclouds soon to release a downpour. Two of the attendants perform a festive dance, using the drums (taiko) that are often shown encircling Raijin in most depictions, and which encircle the title cartouche.

For another print of a similar theme in the collection of the British Museum, museum no. 2008,3037.11801, go to:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_2008-3037-11801

And also, in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 11.21660, go to:
https://collections.mfa.org/objects/213602/prelude-to-a-thundershower-yudachi-no-maebure-lightning-g