About This Print
Source: Chikanobu: Modernity and Nostalgia in Japanese Prints, Bruce A. Coats, Hotei Publishing, 2006, p. 107."The 17th century play Tōryū Oguri Hangan, originally by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, has taken many forms over the centuries with complex story lines added, but a popular scene is when Oguri Hangan, searching for stolen family treasures in Yokoyama, finds his beloved fiancee Princess Terute, who had been abducted, lost at sea, rescued and now worked as a maid in the house of a wealthy rice merchant. The moment of reunion is shown in this print. When the merchant's daughter (who also loves Hangan) tries to kill Terute, the merchant's wife kills her daughter, who then becomes a demon that attacks and disfigures Hangan. Terute then takes her lover to the healing waterfalls of Nachi [shown in inset], where he recovers."
The Series Setsugekka (Snow, Moon, Flowers)
Source: "Setsugekka: Snow, Moon, Flowers", Joshua S. Mostow, appearing in Chikanobu: Modernity and Nostalgia in Japanese Prints, Bruce A. Coats, Hotei Publishing, 2006, p. 83."Chikanobu’s fifty-print series Setsugekka [Snow, Moon, Flowers] was published between August 1884 and April 1886. The term setsugekka / setsu getsu ka derives originally from a poem by the famous Tang-dynasty poet Bo Juyki (772-846), which was in turn included in the Heian-period anthology Wakan rōei shū:
Lute, poetry, wine – my friends
all have deserted me;
snow, moon, flowers – these seasons,
I most often think of you.
As can be seen from Bo’s usage, the phrase was a short-hand way of referring to the four seasons and their respective best features: the snow of winter, the autumn moon, and the spring cherry-blossoms."
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #384 |
| Title or Description | Sagami, Flowers of Yokoyama, Princess Terute and Oguri Hangan, No. 48 相模 横山の花 照手姫 小栗判官 四十八 Sagami, Yokoyama no hana, Terute-hime, Oguri Hangan, yonjū hatsu |
| Series | Snow, Moon, Flowers 雪月花 Setsugekka |
| Artist | Yōshū Chikanobu (1838-1912) |
| Signature |  |
| Seal | red toshidama seal (as shown above) |
| Publication Date |  |
| Publisher |  [Marks: pub. ref. 300; seal not shown] |
| Carver |  |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | fair – original album backing, left margin irregularly trimmed where print was removed from album; soiling primarily visible in margins |
| Genre | ukiyo-e; monogatari-e |
| Miscellaneous |  Print number in series 48 四十八 appearing in lower left corner of image |
| Format | oban |
| H x W Paper | 13 7/8 x 8 3/4 in. (35.2 x 22.2 cm) |
| H x W Image | 13 1/4 x 8 1/2 in. (33.7 x 21.6 cm) "H" dimension includes cat image in margin |
| Literature | Chikanobu: Modernity and Nostalgia in Japanese Prints, Bruce A. Coats, Hotei Publishing, 2006, p. 107, pl. 100. |
| Collections This Print | Scripps College Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery 93.6.52; Ritsumeikan Art Research Center ACNo. MM0634_039 |
4/20/2020
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