Pre-eminent nineteenth-century designer of musha-e (pictures of warriors) Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) first made his name in 1827 with his prints of heroes from the epic Chinese novel, Water Margin. This finished design for a print was for a series on the same theme on which he began work later in his life. Although it has received the necessary censorial approval, as seen from the censor seals to the right of the drawing, it would seem that it was never produced as a print. Some twenty four finished prints from the series are, however, known.