Hasegawa Sadanobu II, triptych, 'The Battle of Shiroyama', 1877.
The battle of Shiroyama - The Satsuma Rebellion. Triptych. Woodblock print. Image area 34.5 x 69.5 cm. Frame 48 x 83 cm.
Not examined out of the frame.
From a Swedish private collector.
The Satsuma Rebellion (Seinan Senso) took place in 1877 between disgruntled former samurai and the Meiji imperial forces. With the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji Restoration of the emperor in 1867, the samurai class was abolished, leaving this once-ruling class unemployed and impoverished. Led by the former imperial army general Saigo Takamori, samurai from the Satsuma region in Kagoshima revolted against the government, leading to a series of battles that ultimately ended with the rebels' defeat at the Battle of Shiroyama, where Saigo committed seppuku (ritual suicide). Woodblock prints depicting the conflict were popular and served as news reporting for the public.
Hasegawa Sadanobu II 二代 長谷川貞信 (Konobu I 初代小信) was born in Osaka and used the gō (artist's name) Konobu 小信 until 1879, when he began using the name Sadanobu as his gō after the death of his father Sadanobu I. He studied with his father and with Osai Yoshiume 鶯斎 芳梅 (1819-1879), (also known as Utagawa Yoshiume), a pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861). He spent a couple of years in Kobe around 1868, during which he produced a number of prints depicting Western influence in the city. His birth name was Hasegawa Tokutarō.
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