Series of Women as Benkei
(Shuzoroi onna
Benkei)
Publisher: Iba-ya Kyûbei (Kinseidô)
1844
This series of ten prints
portrays beautiful women each wearing a kimono
with checkered pattern, a pattern associated with the hero Benkei. Each print refers to an event in Benkei’s
life or one of the many fictionalized accounts of his life. The title of this series is sometimes
translated into English as ‘Women in Benkei-checkered kimono’. This series of
prints is listed as number 137 in Kuniyoshi
by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961). The prints are each about 14 by 10 inches (36
by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.
|
|
Description:
young woman offering a dish of delicacies to a cherub-like infant clinging to
her Benkei reference: The episode Ataka no matsu
(Pine trees at Ataka) episode. Ataka
is the title of a noh play with the
same theme as the kabuki play
Kanjinchô Schaap:
9.1 |
|
|
Description:
A disheveled woman before a mirror holding a razor Benkei reference: The jizori (Benkei
shaving his hair) episode Schaap:
9.2 |
|
|
Description:
young woman holding an uchiwa
(non-folding fan) and looking at a lantern designed with ‘The moon over
Miidera’ motif. Her obi is decorated with emblems related
to Benkei. Benkei reference: The Miidera no kane (The
bell at the Schaap:
9.3 |
|
|
Description:
Woman holding a naginata-hoozuki (a
fertility symbol) in her left hand, standing next to a bridge pillar. Her
obi is decorated with tsuba (sword guards) Benkei reference: This mirrors the Gojôbashi
(Gojô bridge) episode in which Benkei meets Yoshitsune for the first time Schaap:
9.4 |
|
|
Description:
A woman straightening pieces of cloth on a wooden plank in order to dry them Benkei reference: The slanting angle of the plank and the deer on the cloth refer to
the Hiyodorigoe no sakaotoshi (A
surprise attack on Hiyodorigoe) episode Schaap:
9.5 |
|
|
Description:
A married woman with blackened teeth is
preparing tea with water from the Horikawa.
She is holding a pair of irons to light a fire in the hibachi Benkei reference: Horikawa is the name of Yoshitsune's mansion in Schaap:
9.6 |
|
|
Description:
A young woman praying in a boat, sitting next to a basket with
vegetables. There is a small temple in
the background Benkei reference: This refers to the Funa
Benkei (Benkei in the boat) episode Schaap:
9.7 |
|
|
Description:
A young woman about to inscribe a small wooden tablet for the pot of
chrysanthemums at her side Benkei reference: a reference to the Suma no
seisatsu (A notice board at Suma) episode Schaap:
9.8 |
|
|
Description:
A young woman looking over her right shoulder while holding a traveling
mirror with a large carp on its cover.
Her obi is decorated with a
Buddhist symbol referring to Benkei dressed as a priest. Benkei reference: The carp refers to the Oniwakamaru
to koi (Oniwakamaru and the carp) episode. Oniwakamaru was Benkei's childhood name. Schaap:
9.9 |
|
|
Description:
A woman reading a calendar while resting her right elbow on a storage box Benkei reference: an allusion to the Kanjinchô
(charity subscription list) episode Schaap:
9.10 |
_files/image003.jpg)
_files/image014.jpg)
_files/image007.jpg)
_files/image008.jpg)
_files/image009.jpg)
_files/image015.jpg)
_files/image004.jpg)
_files/image011.jpg)
_files/image012.jpg)
_files/image013.jpg)
‘Schaap’ refers to listing in ‘Heroes and
Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi’ by Robert Schaap (Hotei Publishing,
Leiden, 1998).
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN PAGE
_files/image002.jpg)