Ukiyo-e print

Colour woodblock print part of a triptych associated with 59.32.62a and 59.32.62b. Ukiyo-e print depicting men in battle at sea. The text in the top right hand corner is the title of the piece and reads from top to bottom "Masakiyo sankan taiji zu", A picture of Masakiyo fighting in Korea. Masakiyo refers to Katou Kiyomasa, a historical feudal lord of the Sengoku era (1467-1603) who was commonly known as Masakiyo in kabuki theatre. The piece depicts in bright colours a dramatic battle scene as troops are thrown from both the ship in the foreground and in the background also.Troops cry for help from the water in the background, and a severed head floating in the sea illustrates the brutality of the attack. The text in the red box in the bottom right hand corner reads from top to bottom and from right to left, stating "Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi ga". Ga means "painted by", and Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi is one of the go (artist name) of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892). The symbol underneath the signature is the artist's seal and reads "kiri" in Japanese. The black and white text in the bottom right corner reads "To Yamaguchi" and is the seal of the publisher Yamaguchi-ya Tobei in Tokyo.