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Picture of the Naval Battle near Phung-to in Korea
Picture of the Naval Battle near Phung-to in Korea
Image © Worcester Art Museum, all rights reserved.

Picture of the Naval Battle near Phung-to in Korea

Artist (Japanese, 1847–1915)
DateAugust 1894
Mediumwoodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
DimensionsOban Triptych: 37.4 × 76.4 cm (14 3/4 × 30 1/16 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineHarriet B. Bancroft Fund
Object number1997.124
DescriptionThis print illustrates an event that occurred on July 25, 1894. According to the text on the print, Imperial warships attacked and defeated the Chinese warship "Guangyi"; the sailors burned their own ship and made their way in lifeboats to Phung-to Island, from which they were rescued by a German boat.

Night is beautifully represented here; even the lavender color of the cartouche contributes to it. The burning ship is the print's only light source, with the fire rendered in reds and oranges printed next to and over one another. The division of pictorial space, the lack of cast shadows, and light falling in patterns of colored shapes follow earlier Japanese tradition.
ProvenanceIsrael Goldman, London
On View
Not on view