Nōgakuzue, Miidera

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Japanese Color Woodblock Print

Miidera 三井寺

(The Miidera Temple)

from the series Nōgakuzue

by Tsukioka Kōgyo, 1902

IHL Cat. #1747

About This Print

One of 261 prints from the series Nōgakuzue (Illustrations of Noh). It depicts a scene from the play Miidera, often attributed to the playwright Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443).¹ For two other depictions of this play by the artist see Nōga taikan, Miidera and Nōgaku hyakuban, Miidera.

¹ According to the The Ohtsuki Noh Theatre Foundation website "recent scholarship suggest a later author."

The Play - Miidera (The Miidera Temple) by Zeami

Source: A Guide to No, P.G. O'Neill, Hinoki Shoten, 1929, p. 108.

Characters:

Shite - the mother of Semmitsu
Kyōgen - a soothsayer
Ko-kata - the child of Semmitsu
Waki - a priest of Miidera
Waki-tsure - two attendant priests
Kyōgen - a servant

A mother whose child has disappeared makes a long pilgrimage to the Kyōmizu-dera in Kyoto and asks the goddess Kannon to help her find him again. She has a dream which is interpreted by a fortune-teller to mean that she must go to the temple called Mii-dera to meet her son again. Arriving there on the night of the full moon quite unbalanced through anxiety and grief, she rings the temple bell. The priests of the temple, who are looking after her son Semmitsu and have been viewing the moon with him, come up to reproach her. But as they talk, it is found that she is the boy's mother and the two are happily reunited.

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#1747
Title	Miidera 三井寺 (The Miidera Temple)
Series	Nōgakuzue 能樂圖繪 (Illustrations of Noh)
Artist	Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927)
Signature	Kōgyo 耕漁
Seal	White letter seal in an oval shape: 耕漁 [Kōgyo] as shown above [ref. seal #17, p. 170 in The Beauty of Silence]
Date	Printed on February 1, 1902 / Issued on February 5, 1902 明治三十五年二月一日印刷 / 仝年仝月五日発行
Edition	unknown
Publisher	Matsuki Heikichi (Daikokuya Heikichi 大黒屋平) [Marks: pub. ref. 029] Address: 日本橋区吉川町二番地
Carver
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	fair - toning and soiling throughout; full-size sheet; not backed; two pieces hinging tape top corners verso
Genre	ukiyo-e; 能楽図絵 Nōgaku zue [Noh play picture]
Miscellaneous	silver metallic highlights on inset and burnishing on hat; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston notes: Part II, Section I (kōhen, jō)
Format	ō ban yoko-e
H x W Paper	9 7/8 x 14 1/2 in. (25.1 x 36.8 cm)
H x W Image	8 3/4 x 12 15/16 in. (22.2 x 32.9 cm) area within printed black border
Collections This Print	The British Museum 1949,0409,0.12 (1899); Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University arcUP0959 (date unreadable); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 53.2928.15 (January 20, 1899); Art Institute Chicago 1939.2258.14 (1898); University of Pittsburgh 20091209-kogyo-0291 (January 25, 1899); Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery 2011.11.17 (unreadable)
Reference Literature