hanging scroll;
painting
- Museum number
- 1881,1210,0.1756
- Description
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Painting, hanging scroll. Tora watching from balcony of brothel as Soga no Juro rides away into distance. Ink, colour and gold on silk. Signed and sealed.
- Production date
- 1837-48
- Dimensions
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Height: 95.80 centimetres
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Width: 33.10 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
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Clark 1992
The revenge of the Soga brothers, Juro and Goro, on their father's murderer, Kudo Suketsune, while on a hunting party led by Minamoto no Yoritomo at the base of Mt Fuji in 1193, as related in the military tale 'Soga monogatari', was a classic vendetta much elaborated on in later literature and drama. In the Edo period, in particular, Soga pieces were an indispensable item in the programme of plays at the Kabuki theatres each New Year. In Kabuki versions of the story much attention is given to the love affairs of the brothers - for the women Tora no Gozen and Kewaizaka no Shosho, respectively. Tora was a courtesan of the Chotei house at Oiso in Sagami Province, and here she is portrayed watching from the balcony of the brothel as Juro rides away in the distance. Though the characters are essentially dressed in Edo-period rather than twelfth-century costume, Tora's hair is dressed in the anachronistic 'Shimada' style of the Genroku era (1688-1704), lending an historical touch. Her kimono is decorated with Juro's emblem of plovers.
The chronology of Hiroshige's paintings has not yet been established in detail, but the manner in which this work has been painstakingly executed so that pigment fills almost every corner of the silk is rather different from the later landscapes in which there is considerable use of atmospheric misty transitions in pale ink, perhaps indicating a relatively early date. Paintings and prints of historical subjects are quite rare in Hiroshige's 'oeuvre', but from 1845 to 1846 he designed a series of colour prints entitled 'Soga monogatari zue' ('Illustrations to Tale of the Soga'), including a composition very similar to this painting except that Tora is seated. The painting may be close to the print series in date. There is also a painted version of the composition by Hiroshige's pupil Suzuki Shigenobu (Kanagawa Prefectural Museum), done before he assumed the name Hiroshige II upon Hiroshige's death in 1858.
Literature:
Anderson, William, 'Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of Japanese and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum'. London, Trustees of the British Museum, 1886, no. 1756.
'(Hizo) Ukiyo-e taikan' ('Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collections'), ed. Narazaki Muneshige. vol. 1, Tokyo, Kodansha, 1987, no. 153.
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Asahi 1996
曾我十郎•五郎の兄弟のあだ討ち、父を殺した工藤祐経を、建久4年（1193）に源頼朝が開いた富士の巻狩で打つ物語は、軍記物「曾我物語」であるが、古典的なあだ討ちの物語として、後世の文学や演劇の題材となった。特に江戸時代になると曾我兄弟のエピソードは新年の歌舞伎狂言の演目に欠かせないものとなった。歌舞伎の筋書では、兄弟の色恋沙汰に重点が置かれる。相手の女性は虎御前と化粧坂少将である。虎は相模国大磯長亭の遊女で、本作品では遊女屋の露台から馬に乗って去って行く十郎を見送る姿が描かれている。人物はおおむね12世紀の装いではなく江戸時代の風俗で描かれるが、虎の髪型は元禄年間（1688－1704）の古めかしい島田髷で、時代物の趣を添えている。また虎の着物には十郎の紋にちなんだ千鳥模様があしらわれている。
広重の肉筆画の制作年代は細かくは確定していない。しかしながら、本作品に見るような丹念に絹の隅々まで絵の具をのせて仕上げる手法は、後の風景画に多く見るような薄墨で霞んだ空気を表現するものとは異なる。たぶん比較的早い時期の作品なのであろう。歴史を題材にした作品は、肉筆でも版画でも、広重の作品には珍しいが、弘化2年から同3年に「曾我物語図会」の揃物を出版している。「曾我物語図会」には虎が座っている他は本作品とよく似た構成の図が含まれている。本作品は「曾我物語図会」と近い時期の制作であろう。広重の弟子鈴木重宣が同じ構成で描いた「曾我十郎を見送る虎御前」（神奈川県立博物館蔵）があり、それは初代広重が安政5年（1858）に没して二代広重を称する前の作品と知れる。
（伊藤紫織（千葉市美術館））
- Location
- Not on display
- Associated titles
Associated Title: Soga monogatari 曾我物語
- Acquisition date
- 1881
- Acquisition notes
- The collection of over 2,000 Japanese and Chinese paintings assembled by Prof. William Anderson during his residency in Japan, 1873-1880, was acquired by the Museum in 1881. The items were not listed in the register, but rather were published separately as the 'Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of a Collection of Japanese and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum' (Longmans & Co, 1886).
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1881,1210,0.1756
- Additional IDs
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Asia painting number: Jap.Ptg.1552 (Japanese Painting Number)
