(P/B) SAMURAI AND TIGER WARS

Παρουσίαση

As the creation of Japanese woodblock prints grew in popularity in the late Edo period, tigers could be found in the designs of many important ukiyo-e artists, either alone or shown in conflict with legendary Japanese warriors and tiger-hunters such as Kato Kiyomasa, "conqueror" of Korea. Images of Kiyomasa and others hunting, fighting and killing tigers form perhaps the most common type of print involving man/beast death struggles.
Other ukiyo-e designs focused on the mythological or "magic" aspect of tigers; in Japanese legend, tigers of a certain age acquired magical powers, and tiger magic was used in conflicts by sorcerer-warriors such as Tora-o-maru, who is depicted in numerous kabuki portraits. Finally, a significant number of ukiyo-e images show the tiger's image as an accessory - tigerskins worn as items of clothing or displayed as trophies, tiger designs printed onto fabric, and warriors and outlaws with ferocious-looking tiger tattoos.