Click on above image for larger scan

Loyalty- Kusunoki Masatsura
by Unknown- HisaBisaHide

Original caretaker of this artwork: Ross Walker Collection (Ohmi Gallery)

	Artist:	Unknown- HisaBisaHide
	Title:	Loyalty- Kusunoki Masatsura
	Series:	A new selection of Mirror of Honour
	Date of first edition?:	1896
	Publisher (first edition)?:	Ishii Rokunosuke — 石井六乃助
	Publisher (this edition)?:	Ishii Rokunosuke — 石井六乃助
	Medium (first edition):	Woodblock
	Medium (this edition):	Woodblock
	Format (first edition):	Triptych
	Format (this edition):	Triptych
	DB artwork code:	38520
	Notes (first edition)?:	Artist: Anonymous Signature: Oju Kunihide - (?) Publisher: Ishii Rokunosuke Date: 1896 Size: 9,9 x 14,4 in Format: 3 oban triptych Title: "Shinsen Meiyo Kagami" A new selection of Mirror of Honour "Chu. Kusunoki Masatsura" Loyalty. Kusunoki Masatsura The last stand of Kusunoki Masatsura at the battle of Shijo Nawate in Kyoto (1348). ABOUT THE BATTLE OF SHIJONAWATE The 1348 Battle of Shij?nawate was a battle of the Nanboku-cho period of Japanese history, and took place in Yoshinoko, Japan. It was fought between the armies of the Northern and Southern Emperors of Japan. The Southern army, led by Kusunoki Masatsura was attacked at Yoshino, the temporary palace of the Imperial residence. Feeling too weak to defend the residence, Masatsura marched out with his whole force to meet his assailants. Kitabataka Chikafusa, meanwhile, led his force towards Izumi, diverting some of the attackers away from the palace. Kusunoki engaged the enemy commander Ko no Moroyasu in single combat, and, it is said, was about to take K?'s head when he was struck by an arrow; Kusunoki then committed seppuku. The battle ended in a Northern Court victory, but the Southern Court fled Yoshino, leaving little for their enemies to capture.
	Notes (this edition)?:	The following information was taken from the original web listing of this artwork. Note that there may be some inaccuracies: Artist: Anonymous Signature: Oju Kunihide - (?) Publisher: Ishii Rokunosuke Date: 1896 Size: 9,9 x 14,4 in Format: 3 oban triptych Title: "Shinsen Meiyo Kagami" A new selection of Mirror of Honor "Chu. Kusunoki Masatsura" Loyalty. Kusunoki Masatsura The last stand of Kusunoki Masatsura at the battle of Shijo Nawate in Kyoto (1348) Impression: very good Colors: very good Condition: very good - , minor faults Unfortunately it is hard for me to identify who is the artist for the triptych print. Red seal is "UTA(positive) GAWA(negative)" = "歌川" in Japanese. Right side two kanji characters are "應（Ou)　需（Jyu)" signifying "as per special request". Artist signature is unknown but seems to be "久　々　秀" ???