The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 26, 2025

Act VII from the series The Storehouse of Loyal Retainers

c. 1801–2

Kitagawa Utamaro

(Japanese, c. 1754–1806)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Color woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Sheet: 39.1 x 26.3 cm (15 3/8 x 10 3/8 in.)
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.360
Location: Not on view

Description

This series gives a famous play a humorous spin by altering the setting and some parts of the narrative. Utamaro kept his jokes accessible by picturing the action of the original episode to the side of the main image for easy reference. In this print, a spy reading a letter is turned into a dog; both can be pronounced inu in Japanese. In the stage version of this scene, the loyal samurai Oboshi Yuranosuke reads an important letter relating details of the plot to avenge the unjust death of his master. The spy Kudayu also reads the note as it unrolls beneath the veranda. On the balcony, the jealous courtesan Okaru believes it to be a love letter from a rival. Utamaro transforms the spy/counterspy episode into a humorous scene on a warm night. A beau reads a love letter, its presence disturbing the dog lying underneath the veranda. On the balcony above, a bored courtesan shows no interest in the scene below as she fans herself to keep cool.
  • ?–1965
    Philippe R. Stoclet, consigned for sale at Sotheby & Co.
    May 1965
    (Sotheby & Co., May 1965 sale, lot 139)
    1965?–1975
    Edith Ehrman [1932–1974], New York, NY, consigned for sale at Sotheby Parke Bernet after her death
    June 17, 1975
    (Sotheby Parke Bernet, June 17, 1975 sale, lot 122)
    after 1975–?
    (R. E. Lewis, Inc., California, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith)
    ?–1985
    The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1985–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Stern, Harold P. Master Prints of Japan: Ukiyo-E Hanga. New York: Abrams, 1969. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 216–217, cat. no. 117
    “Checklist of the Kelvin Smith Bequest.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 75, no. 7, 1988, pp. 292–295. Mentioned: p. 293 25160040
    編集赤穂市教育委員会市史編さん室., and henshū Akō-shi Kyōiku Iinkai Shishi Hensanshitsu. 忠臣蔵. 第7卷. Edited by 赤穂市教育委員会. and Akō-shi Kyōiku Iinkai Shishi Hensanshitsu. Hyōgo-ken Akō-shi: 兵庫県赤穂市, 2014. Reproduced: p. 133, no. 206
  • Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation - September 2016-January 2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 19, 2016-January 8, 2017).
    Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 12, 2004- April 10, 2005).
    A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988).
    In the Nature of Materials - Japanese Decorative Arts. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1977).
  • {{cite web|title=Act VII from the series The Storehouse of Loyal Retainers|url=false|author=Kitagawa Utamaro|year=c. 1801–2|access-date=26 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.360