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Sumō wrestler, Iōzan Moriemon

Sumō wrestler, Iōzan Moriemon
(猪王山 森右ェ門)
 1854

Medium
colour woodblock
Measurements
37.8 × 25.4 cm (image) 38.0 × 25.6 cm (sheet)
Place/s of Execution
Japan
Inscription
inscribed in ink (in image) (in Japanese characters) l.l.: (engraver’s seal)
inscribed in ink (in image) (in Japanese characters) l.r.: (kiwame: seal) / (Toyokuni ga) (in cartouche) / (1854: date censor seal) / (Tsutaya Kichizo: publisher’s seal)
Accession Number
2012.4
Department
Asian Art
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Allan Myers AO and Maria Myers AO, 2012
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Gordon Darling Foundation
Gallery location
Level 1, NGV International
About this work

During Iōuzan Moriemon’s wrestling career, which spanned November 1839 to March 1860, he reached the second-highest rank of Ozeki. In the adjoining tournament print, he is in the group of wrestlers to the left of the ring, back row, third from the right. In sumo archives he is reputed to have enjoyed drinking sake before his bouts, striking dramatic poses, behaving eccentrically in the ring and then often going on to lose to his opponent.