Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (Japan, 1839-1892) - Lot 350

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (Japan, 1839-1892) Print, oban tate-e, left part of a diptych, The Saigo Star of the Seinan War. Soldiers in a hot-air balloon. Signed Tsukioka Yonejiro. Dated 9th month of Meiji 20 (September 1877). (Stains, small chips, glued to the upper corners). Dim. 37.2 x 25.4 cm Tsukioka Yonejiro is Yoshitoshi's birth name. The title of this diptych refers to the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, known in Japanese as the Southwest War (seinan). Towards the end of the rebellion, a red star shone abnormally in the sky. Rumor spread that it was Saigo Takamori, the leader of the rebellion, visible through a telescope. The rumor spread so widely that the newspapers had to deny it.