Kunichika - Koman - 36 Good and Evil Beauties

Toyohara Kunichika

This print of the woman pulling herself out of the water, is from one of my favorite Kunichika series, "36 Good and Evil Beauties". The series is considered one of his best and it depicts famous women from throughout history that are considered to be good or evil in some way.  

This woman is Koman, the heroine who is holding the Minamoto banner, rolled up in her teeth, she was trying to protect the banner from falling into the hands of their sworn enemies, the Taira clan. So she jumped into Lake Biwa to avoid being captured. Unfortunately she was spotted in the water and picked up by a barge carrying the leader of their enemy - although I’ve also seen accounts where she managed to save the banner from the enemy - so I guess the outcome depends on the version of the story you hear.

Condition: Cropped as shown, very good color and some embossing, backed with Edo era paper.

Date: 1876

Publisher: Morimoto Junzaburo.

Genre: Ukiyo-e

Medium: Woodblock Print

https://www.kabuki21.com/jitsuroku_sendai_hagi.php

https://www.toshidama-japanese-prints.com/item_1216/Kunichika-36-Good-and-Evil-Beauties--The-Nurse-Asaoka.htm