Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III), 1786-1865

beauty walking in the snow

kakemono-e; a woman in a blue kosode with a black hood walking in the snow; signed Kochoro Kunisada ga, with red artist's seal Gotokan to tekichoku ko, censor's seal kiwame, and publisher's seal Sanoki (Sanoya Kihei of Kikakudo), ca. 1832

oban tate-e vertical diptych 28 7/8 by 9 7/8 in., 73.3 by 25 cm

The subject of a woman wearing a blue kosode and black hood while walking in the snow is recognizable as the character Osono from the kabuki drama, Kanadehon Chushingura (Treasury of Loyal Retainers), the popular story fictionalizing the early 18th century historical story of the forty-seven ronin. Osono was the divorced wife of the weapons supplier to the ronin.

Reference:
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, www.mfa.org, William Sturgis Bigelow Collection, accession no. 11.26844; and Denman Waldo Ross Collection (variant printing), accession no. 06.778

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