Samurai Retainer in a Raincoat (1)
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Edition:
- Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Shotei produced a wide range of subjects throughout his career under publishers Watanabe and Daikokuya. Signed, sealed lifetime editions consistently outperform unsigned export-market copies.
A samurai retainer wears a full rain cape (mino) over his armor and weapons as he moves through wet weather — the practical garment transforming the martial figure into something simultaneously formidable and deeply domestic, the warrior subordinated to the demands of Japanese weather. Shotei renders the retainer with careful attention to the overlapping layers of the rain cape and the glimpse of sword hilt below it. The figure belongs to the tradition of warrior imagery that ran through the [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) period, when samurai culture was simultaneously historical and recently present.
Woodblock print
c. 1828/30
Color woodblock print; surimono
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Samurai Retainer in a Raincoat (1) was created by Takahashi Shotei (高橋松亭).
Samurai Retainer in a Raincoat (1) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Samurai Retainer in a Raincoat (1) depicts warriors.
