武田信繁 - Takeda Nobushige is known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen" or the "Kai General".
This is a fine art Giclée reproduction of a very old Japanese woodblock print. This was made months ago, rather than centuries ago.
Original artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川 国芳) (1797-1861).
Original woodblock was created in Japan, around 1853.
About Samurai General Takeda Nobushige:
Takeda Nobushige (1525-1561) was a samurai of Japan's Sengoku period and younger brother of Takeda Shingen. Takeda Nobushige held the favor of their father and was meant to inherit the Takeda lands, wealth, and power, becoming head of the clan. However, Shingen rebelled against their father and seized the lands and power for himself. Nobushige nevertheless fought alongside his brother who relied on him for support, He is famous not only for his strategic insight but also his wisdom; he wrote among other things Kyūjūkyū Kakun, a set of 99 short rules for Takeda clan members, some of which are erroneously attributed to Shingen himself from time to time. He is also known as Takeda Tenkyū (Tenkyū being another rank he held).
Nobushige became an important Takeda general and led large forces on several occasions. In 1544, Shingen had a rebellion on his hands. As part of his punitive effort, he sent Nobushige to capture Fujisawa Yorichika's Kōjinyama castle. (He probably succeeded, though sources differ). Katsurao castle, the main castle of Murakami Yoshikiyo, fell to Nobushige and Takeda Yoshinobu in 1553. This drove Yoshikiyo to Uesugi Kenshin and was really the last significant act before the start of the Kawanakajima campaigns proper.
----------------------------------------------
About Real Japanese Woodblock Prints:
Contrary to popular belief, woodblock printing (and in a way, the first printing press) was invented in China. Both artwork and whole books were produced in China using the woodblock print technique. Much of this artwork and printed books made their way to Japan. Emulating the methods and adding to the style, Japanese artists took woodblock printing to the next level.
In Japan, woodblock prints are known as 木版畫 or "Moku Hanga". Most were produced during the Edo period (1603–1867). To put that in perspective, that's from before what is now the USA was even a British colony, to just after the Civil War. Some artists continued creating prints into the early 1900s.
At that time, Japanese artists would create "template paintings" with detailed images of "everyday life" scenes of Japan. Some of these "everyday life" or 浮世絵 (Ukiyo-e), which translates as "Floating World" images, depict battling Samurai, beheadings, and even prostitution. This leads you to believe that "everyday life", was rather exciting in ancient Japan. However, most Ukiyo-e prints were more tame scenes of everything from women washing clothes, to men writing poetry.
After creating the template, the artist would then have another artisan carve large blanks of wood with those images. The carved wood blocks were then given to yet another artisan, known as an "inker". The inker would then carefully apply wet ink or colorful paint to the various carved surfaces. A sheet of handmade paper was then pressed over the inked woodblock to create the final print. The process was laborious, but not as tedious as hand-painting hundreds of copies from scratch.
----------------------------------------------
About This Reproduction:
If this was an "original" Japanese woodblock print, dating back to the Edo period, the price would be anywhere from $800 to $20,000.
Just to be clear again: This is a reproduction.
The quality of this reproduction is very good, but a true expert will spot this as a reproduction after examining it.
I use handmade Kozo (mulberry) paper - the same kind of paper that Japanese woodblock printmakers used centuries ago.
The pigment-based inks are archival and UV-resistant. In independent laboratory testing the giclée prints created with this ink should survive 95 to maybe more than 200 years with no signs of fading, if not in direct sunlight (most hand-painted artwork fades before that). I figure you'll get a lifetime of enjoyment if you take good care of this wall scroll. I spend hours making sure the colors are vibrant and touching up areas that might be damaged or missing from the old original print. The result is very close to what the woodblock print would look like if you could go back in time to the Edo period, and buy it from the artist's studio in old Japan.
For years I tried to find a printer that could handle handmade paper without wrinkling, jamming, or clogging print heads. I bought and tried several giclée printers valued at up to $15,000 each. They gave mixed results, I finally found the quality I was looking for in a brand-new Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-2000. This printer has 18,432 nozzles and 12 ink tanks. That's 12 ink tanks costing up to $294 each. With the price of the printer at $2,695 it was a total investment of about $6,000 - which is not a price tag for the faint of heart.
After carefully printing and inspecting this artwork, I sent the raw print on Kozo paper to my workshop in Beijing where it was built into a handmade wall scroll. This makes it ready-to-hang (no expensive framing needed) and gives the whole piece a very traditional Asian look. factory
Product code: Samurai Takeda Nobushige Japanese Woodblock factory Print Repro Scroll