Minamoto no Shigeyuki, Poet No. 48, circa 1845 - 1848 - Handsome design from the famous ghost story of the maiden Okiku and the nine plates, the origin of the kabuki play "Bancho Sarayashiki." Okiku, the lovely servant of the samurai Aoyama Tessan, was entrusted with the care of a set of valuable dishes. After she rejected his advances, tricked her into believing that she had lost one of the family's ten valuable Delft plates. He said he would forgive her if she became his lover, but she refused, so he threw her down a well. She returned as a vengeful spirit to haunt him. Hiroshige portrays her as having broken one of the precious dishes. She looks down sorrowfully at the pieces, anxiously biting her kimono sleeve, as another servant looks on, shocked. A poignant image with a lovely soft color palette. The poem by the ninth-century poet Minamoto no Shigeyuki, one of the "Thirty-six Poetry Immortals," reads:

Like a driven wave,
Dashed by fierce winds on a rock,
So am I: alone
And crushed upon the shore,
Remembering what has been.

Artist - Hiroshige (1797 - 1858)

Image Size - 13 1/4" x 8 3/4" + margins as shown

Condition - This print with good detail as shown. Backed with paper. Loss and thinning at edge, a couple holes, repaired. Creasing at edges, rubbing. Please see photos for details.