Kobayashi Kiyochika

1847-1915

Our Elite Forces Capturing the Pescadores Islands in Taiwan
(Seiei naru waga gun Taiwan Houkoto senryo suru no zu)

signed on left sheet, Kiyochika, with artist's seal Kiyo, dated on the left margin of the left sheet, Meiji nijushichinen, junigatsu (Meiji 27 [1894] December), followed by the address of the publisher Matsuki Heikichi V (1870-2931, of Daikokuya), this version issued ca. March 1895

oban tate-e triptych 14 by 27 5/8 in., 35.6 by 70.3 cm

Although this design was initially issued in December 1894 without a title, the subject is identifiable because Kiyochika used nearly the same composition in a circular cartouche on a sugoroku board game in December of 1894 which is identified as Fenghuangcheng, a riverside fortress which the Chinese evacuated and set fire to on October 29-30, 1894 as they retreated out of Korea across the Yalu River into Manchuria. The print was then reissued with a new title when the Japanese began their invasion of Taiwan, starting with the Pescadores Islands in March of 1895.

References:
Louise E. Virgin, et. al., Japan at the Dawn of the Modern Age: Woodbock Prints from the Meiji Era, 1868-1912, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2001, p. 107, cat. no. 58, accession no. RES23.264-6 (without title)
Rhiannon Paget, in Hu, et al., Conflicts of Interest: Art and War in Modern Japan, Saint Louis Art Museum, 2016, p. 154. no. 57 and p. 172, no. 68 (suguroku game with Fenghuangcheng image)
New York Public Library, Donald Keene Collection, 101989a-c
Fine Arts Museum of San Franciscom accession no. 1984.1.85 (with title)
Harvard Art Museum, object no. 1944.5.2 (without title)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession nos. RES23.264-6 (without title), and 2000.422a-c (with title)
(inv. no. C-3020)

price: $1,800