…; purchased from the dealer Kunsthandel Huys den Esch, Dodewaard, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1983;¹¹Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 15, cat. no. 12 by whom donated to the museum, 1991

Object number: RP-P-1991-541

Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse

The title of this series, Buke rokkasen, translates literally as 'Six Immortal Warrior Poets', but judging from the sound rather than the characters, it is more likely that it is meant to suggest something akin to 'Warriors from Six Selected Families'. The warriors portrayed in the set are more famous for their military skills than for their poetry.

The complete series is in the MFA, Boston.

For others of the series, see:
Minamoto Sanmi Yorimasa ²²NME, Leiden, 1223-2; Hempel, Rose, Japanische Holzschnitte. Neuerwerbungen der Sammlung Theodor Scheiwe. Cologne: W. Muller, 1969, p. 198; Hempel, Rose, Ukiyo-e. Die Kunst der heiteren vergänglichen Welt, Japan 17. - 19. Jahrhundert, Sammlung Scheiwe. Recklinghuisen: Bongers, 1972, p. 384; Sotheby's London, 8/VI/2004, 474, MFA 11-20490
Ota Dokan ³³Hempel, Rose, Japanische Holzschnitte. Neuerwerbungen der Sammlung Theodor Scheiwe. Cologne: W. Muller, 1969, p. 199; Hempel, Rose, Ukiyo-e. Die Kunst der heiteren vergänglichen Welt, Japan 17.-19. Jahrhundert, Sammlung Scheiwe. Recklinghuisen: Bongers, 1972, p. 385; Sotheby's London, 8/VI/2004, 474 (illustrated), MFA 11-20492
Kamakura Udaijin ⁴⁴Keyes, Roger S., The Art of Surimono. Privately Published Japanese Woodblock Prints and Books in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 2 vols. London: Sotheby’s Publications, 1985, p. 81; Sotheby's London, 8/VI/2004, 474, MFA 11-20496
Taira no Tadanori ⁵⁵Paul F. Walter Collection of Surimono. Privately Commissioned Japanese Prints. New York: Christie's, 23 October 1992, p. 48; Mirviss, Joan B. and John T. Carpenter, Jewels of Japanese Printmaking: Surimono of the Bunka-Bunsei Era 1804-1830 (Amerika no 3 josei ga atsumeta Bunka, Bunsei no shugyoku no surimono). Tokyo: Ota Memorial Museum of Art & Nihon Keizai Shinbun, 2000, p. 77; Sotheby's London, 8/VI/2004, 474, MFA11.20497
Minamoto no Yoshiie -⁶⁶Sotheby's London, 8/VI/2004, 474, MFA 11.20495

A seated warrior reading a book, on a golden ground.

The General Minamoto no Yoshiie, Minamoto no Yoshiie, from the series Six Immortal Warrior Poets, Buke rokkasen.

The warrior is Minamoto no Yoshiie (1039?-1106), the son of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi (988-1075) and also commonly known as Hachiman Taro.

One poem by Fukunoya [Uchinari, also Kigairo and Fukunoya Fuji no Uchinari, or Fukunoya Tonainari, a pupil of Rokujuen who later founded the Shipporen].⁷⁷Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 21.

The poem reads:
Reading a military book in an inn during the Spring rain, he breaks the Abegawa rice cakes

Abegawa mochi, with Abegawa probably also alluding to the Abe family whom he defeated in the 1050s.

Issued by an unidentified poetry club
Signature reading: Gakutei hitsu

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 431

M. Forrer, 2013, 'Yashima Gakutei, A Seated Warrior, Japan, 1825', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200473430