Chushingura: Act X of The Storehouse of Loyalty (late 1790s): Art, History and Details

Chushingura: Act X of The Storehouse of Loyalty (late 1790s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, c. 1754–1806).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Stage version: The hero Gohei bravely plants himself on a chest of armor and weapons to prevent government officials from discovering them before they are smuggled out of the house. He holds off the officials by claiming that the chest contains personal belongings of the lady of the house. Exposing these items would bring her humiliation and dishonor. See Chushingura: Perspective Picture for the "Treasure House of Loyalty" (CMA 1985.338.10). Parody print: Utamaro converted this moment of lofty bravery into one of humor. A drunkard guards a cask of sake to prevent the maid from opening it.

Object facts

• Title: Chushingura: Act X of The Storehouse of Loyalty
• Date: late 1790s
• Creator attribution: Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, c. 1754–1806)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Print
• Technique: color woodblock print
• Dimensions: Sheet: 36.6 x 26.1 cm (14 7/16 x 10 1/4 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1921.358

Collection credit

Gift from J. H. Wade

Further reading listed by the museum

• 編集赤穂市教育委員会市史編さん室., and henshū Akō-shi Kyōiku Iinkai Shishi Hensanshitsu. 忠臣蔵. 第7卷. Edited by 赤穂市教育委員会. and Akō-shi Kyōiku Iinkai Shishi Hensanshitsu. Hyōgo-ken Akō-shi: 兵庫県赤穂市, 2014.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.