Original Japanese Woodblock Print Triptych Russo Japanese War Cavalry Battle Taeryong River 1904 LS#203

我騎兵ノ偵察隊大寧江附近ニ敵騎兵ト接触擊退 (Waga Kihei no Teisatsutai Taeryongang Fukin ni Tekikihei to Sesshoku Gekitai) — Meiji 37 (1904), Artist Unknown

A large and energetic nishiki-e triptych depicting a cavalry engagement of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, published in Tokyo in March 1904 — within weeks of the war's outbreak. The title cartouche describes the action precisely: Japanese cavalry reconnaissance units near the Taeryong River in Korea make contact with Russian cavalry and drive them back, determining the direction of enemy retreat. The composition sweeps dramatically across all three panels in horizontal format: Japanese cavalrymen in dark uniforms bearing the rising sun flag charge from right, colliding at full gallop with Russian cavalry in red-trimmed coats at center, while Russian infantry at lower left are shown falling and fleeing. Gunsmoke billows at right; a broken artillery wheel lies in the foreground; bare winter trees frame the scene above. The pale golden sky and grey-green ground palette give the violence an almost elegiac quality. Published by Matsuno Yonejiro (松野米次郎), Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Meiji 37 (1904), March 20.

• Title: 我騎兵ノ偵察隊大寧江附近ニ敵騎兵ト接触擊退 — "Our Cavalry Reconnaissance Contacts and Repulses Enemy Cavalry Near the Taeryong River"
• Artist: Unknown
• Publisher: Matsuno Yonejiro (松野米次郎), Nihonbashi, Tokyo
• Date: Meiji 37 (1904), March 20
• Format: Oban triptych — each panel approximately 14" × 9.5" (36 × 24 cm); full triptych approximately 14" × 28.5" (36 × 72 cm)

Good; bleed-through from printing visible on reverse, normal for this type of production. No significant tears or creases noted. Colors retain good intensity particularly in the uniform details and flags.

A vivid and historically specific document of the Russo-Japanese War's early Korean theater, published contemporaneously with the events depicted — an example of Meiji-period print journalism at its most immediate.