Author: Utagawa Yoshitora (歌川芳虎)
Subject: Ushioda Masanojō Minamoto no Takanori (牛尾田政之丞源高教).
Series: Biographies of the loyal retainers (chūshingishi meimei den, 忠臣義士銘々伝).
Number: 16/50 (the syllable ka, か).
Genre: musha-e (武者絵), chūshingura (忠臣蔵).
Size: medium (chūban, 中判).
Publisher: Wakasaya Yoichi (若狭屋与市) here as Shiba Jakuyōhan (芝若与板).
Period: c. 1864.
Trimmed: no
Backed: no
Code: UTY01003

Condition: color and paper are in good conditions. Few, but not remarkable, stains along the border and in the bottom left corner. No wrinkles nor fixing.

Ushioda Masanojō Minamoto no Takanori was one of the 47 loyal retainers of Asano Naganori (浅野長矩) which took part to the assault of Kira Yoshinaka's (吉良義央) mansion, killing him for avenging his Lord Asano.
Here he's sitting on a rock, taking a brief rest after the assault.
His real name was actually Ushioda Matanojō Takanori (潮田又之丞高教), but being any reference to the original characters of the story prohibited and subject to censorship it was changed with a similar one.
As any of the 47 warriors Ushioda was trained in the use of variety of weapon, excelling with spear and hooked rope, which used for climb the boundaries of the mansion and open the back gate.
This series from Yoshitora doesn't refers to each print using common numbers but with the syllables of the Japanese Hiragana alphabet.