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Ichimura Uzaemon IX as Shingen in “A String of Prayer Beads Shaken at a Ribbon of Waterfall”
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Once the center print of a triptych (a composition of three prints), this design shows Ichimura Uzaemon IX playing Takeda Harunobu (1521–1573), a storied general who received the name Shingen upon taking Buddhist vows. In the story, Shingen attempts to cut off his enemy’s water supply, using a spell to imprison the dragon god who controlled it. However, a young woman named Sakura-hime gets him drunk. While he is indisposed, she and her lover release the dragon, whereupon it rains. Here, Shingen, in Buddhist robes, grips his string of prayer beads between his teeth.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineIchimura Uzaemon IX as Shingen in “A String of Prayer Beads Shaken at a Ribbon of Waterfall” (滝糸動玉緒 九代目市村宇左衛門の信玄), 1775. Katsukawa Shunshō (Japanese, 1726–1792). Color woodblock print; sheet: 33.4 x 15 cm (13 1/8 x 5 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift from J. H. Wade, 1921.1270
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