Paul Binnie

Scottish, b. 1967

The Famous 18 Plays: The Repelling Hero
(Kabuki ju-hachiban: Oshimodoshi)

kappazuri (stencil print) on black washi paper, with highlights in gold, silver and brass pigment, signed in the composition in red pigment, Binnie, signed again and numbered in red crayon at bottom margin Paul Binnie, 18/80, followed by artist's seal Bin-ni and date seal Heisei roku-nen (Heisei 6 [1994])

dai oban tate-e 18 1/2 by 12 5/8 in., 47 by 32.2 cm

This composition is the eighth and final print in the series Kabuki juhachiban (The Famous 18 Plays) and depicts the oshimodoshi from the play Musume Dojoji (The Maiden at the Dojo Temple). An oshimodoshi is a short fight scene appended to certain dramas in which a hero defeats an evil spirit or villain. In this play, the battle is between the warrior Odate Goro Terusada and the snake-spirit of Kiyohime at Dojo Temple. Previously while in the form of a snake-like demon driven mad by unrequited love, Kiyohime had coiled around and melted the temple bell, killing the object of her affection, a resolute monk, within. Her spirit returns to the temple just as the monks are inaugurating a new bell to replace the one she had destroyed. The snake-spirit reveals itself as such and is about to take off with the bell when Terusada appears, challenging the spirit with a mighty bamboo spear. He wins the day, defeating the snake-spirit and saving the new bell from a familiar destruction.

References:
Arendie and Henk Herwig, Heroes of the Kabuki Stage, 2004, pp. 211-215 (re: play)
Paul Binnie: A Dialogue with the Past - The First 100 Japanese Prints, 2007, p. 68, no. 26

price: $650