Collection
View More:
Artist
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Japan
1839 - 1892
About
An old lady served a high-ranking lord whose disease could only be cured with the blood of children in a certain month. Under a well-lit moon, she went to kill children for their blood. After her lord recovered, she confessed to her deeds and was pardoned. The story varies, sometimes being the blood of pilgrims, other times the blood of travellers. Here, the old lady is shown to be peering around the doorway at a victim, ready to kill. Both Yoshitoshi and his teacher Kuniyoshi, haunted by this scene, used the same motifs in previous works on this theme, such as the rope around the roof, the climbing vine and the woman’s withered breasts.
Details
Alternative title
hitotsuya no tsuki
Date
Aug 1890
Materials used
colour woodblock; ōban
Dimensions
39.0 x 26.0 cm
Signature & date
Signed and dated.
Credit
Yasuko Myer Bequest Fund 2012
Location
Not on display
Accession number
258.2012.85

Place
Where the work was made
Japan
Shown in 2 exhibitions
Exhibition history
Theatre of dreams, theatre of play: no and kyogen in Japan, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 14 Jun 2014–14 Sep 2014
Yoshitoshi: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Aug 2016–20 Nov 2016
Referenced in 3 publications
Bibliography
Yoshitoshi: masterpieces from the Ed Freis collection, Leiden, 2011, 135-136. General reference; Another edition was reproduced
Yoshitoshi Tsuki hyakushi (Yoshitoshi’s One hundred aspects of the moon), Tokyo, 2010. General reference; Another edition was reproduced
Yoshitoshi's One hundred aspects of the moon, Seattle, 1992, (colour illus.). cat.no.85; Another edition was reproduced