Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1839-1892
Yoshitoshi’s Courageous Warriors: Sagami-no-kami Hojo Takatoki
(Yoshitoshi musha burui: Sagami-no-kami Hojo Takatoki)
with a dusting of mica along the top edge, signed Taiso Yoshitoshi ga, with artist's seal Taiso, carver's seal Horiko Muneoka (Muneoka Nobukichi), and publisher's date seal Meiji jurokunen, junigatsu, shichika (Meiji 16 [1883], December 7) of Maruya Tetsujiro of Enjudo
oban tate-e 14 by 9 1/2 in., 35.5 by 24.2 cm
Sagami-no-kami Hojo Takatoki (1303-1333), the last regent of the Kamakura shogunate, is depicting fighting off an attack from a group of tengu. The tengu were fearsome warrior creatures of Japanese folklore who took on characteristics of birds of prey. While serving as regent, Takatoki would commit suicide alongside many members of his family and others loyal to the shogunate during the 1333 Siege of Kamakura, in which elements loyal to the Emperor Go-Daigo established the new Ashikaga shogunate.
References:
Keyes 1983, p. 454, no. 460.11
Segi 1985, p. 103, no. 115
van den Ing & Schaap 1992, p. 129, no. 44.11
Ota Memorial Museum of Art 2012, p. 106, no. 163
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