Ukiyo-e print

Colour woodblock print on a paper mount. Ukiyo-e print depicting a samurai on a white horse. The text in the top right corner reads from top to bottom and from right to left. Line one reads "Ujigawa gassen", the battle at the Uji River, and line two reads "Sasaki Takatsuna", the name of a commander of the Minamoto clan in the Genpei War, a conflict between the Minamoto and Taira clans between 1160 and 1214. Before the battle at Uji River in Kyoto on New Year's Day of 1184, the feudal lord Minamoto no Yoritomo gave a white horse, Ikezuki, to Sasaki. He also gave a black horse, Surusumi, to Kajiwara Kagesue, a samurai of the same clan. He then asked both men to privately promise to gain advantage over their fellow comrade. This print shows Sasaki crossing the Uji River on Ikezuki in pursuit of the rival Taira clan, and after a brutal contest, came up victorious in the private battle between himself and Kajiwara Kagesue. The full story is written on the inside of the mount of this print and is connected to that of print 56.50.289. The text in the bottom right hand corner of the print reads "Sadanobu" and refers to Hasegawa Sadanobu III (1881-1963), also known as Konobu III (artist name). The seal in the bottom right hand corner is of the Uchida Woodblock Printing Company in Kyoto.