Interpretation
“Little Crow” was the name given to a sword that was the family heirloom of the Taira clan in the Tales of Heike, an epic written during the Kamakura period (1185–1333). In this print series, however, the sword is attributed to the Minamoto clan, Taira’s mortal enemy, a theory promulgated in novels and Kabuki theater.
These two surimono impressions of Little Crow, the original and a copy, were created at different times. Surimono is a genre of woodblock prints that were privately commissioned by poetry societies and individuals, and thus were more elaborate and lavishly printed than the average commercial woodblock print.
Information
- Title
- “Little Crow,” Sword of the Minamoto (Kogarasumaru no hitokoshi 小鳥丸の一腰 源) (or Crow, Sword, and Plum Blossoms), from the series “Four Great Clans of Japan” (Shisei no uchi 四性ノ内)
- Object Number
- 2014-28
- Medium
- Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
- Dates
- reprinted 1890s
- Dimensions
- 20.3 × 17.8 cm (8 × 7 in.)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Sebastian Izzard
- Culture
- Japanese
- Period
- Meiji era
- Place made
- Asia, Japan
- Techniques
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