Act XI, from the series Komei bijin mitate chushingura junimai tsuzuki (Parody of Chushingura by three famous beauties in twelve sheets)

The scene parodies Act XI, "The Night attack," of the popular drama "Treasury of loyal retainers." Utamaro portrays himself, being offered a large cup of sake, impersonating Moronao, the villain who is killed in this act.

For another impression in the British Museum, London see Narazaki Muneshige and Yamaguchi Keizaburo, Daiei hakubutsukan/The British Museum...., vol. 11 of Ukiyo-e shuka (Tokyo: Shogakukan, 1979), pl. 186 (diptych). Other diptychs are in The Art Institute of Chicago and the Tokyo National Museum.

Another impression of this left panel was sold Sotheby's, London, Highly Important Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books and Drawings from the Henri Vever Collection: Part I, 26 March, 1974, lot 188.