Utagawa Hiroshige II (Rissho)

1829-1869

One Hundred Views of Famous Places in the Provinces: Iwakuni Kintai Bridge
(Shokoku meisho hyakkei: Iwakuni Kintai Bashi)

signed Hiroshige ga with publisher's seal Uo-ei (Uo-ya Eikichi) and censor's date seal Aratame Hitsuji (examined, year of the goat [1859])

oban tate-e 14 1/8 by 9 5/8 in., 35.8 by 24.6 cm

The Kintai-bashi (Bridge of the Brocade Sash) crosses the Nishikawa (Brocade River) in Iwakuni. It was builit in 1673 with five arches supported by wood pilings under the arches near the shore and four massive stone pilings engineered to withstand annual flooding that had destroyed earlier bridges with wood pilings. The original survived until 1950 when it was destroyed by a typhoon, but was reconstructed in 1953 by Iwakuni city.

This feat of engineering and poetic name made the Kintai-bashi one of the most famous bridges of the provinces. Twenty-five years earlier, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) included it in his series, Unusual Views of Famous Bridges in the Provinces, illustrating figures crossing the span during a rainstorm.

Exhibited:
Near and Far: Landscapes by Japanese Artists, The Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, Hanford, California, January 6 - April 20, 2013

(inv. no. 10-2217)

price: Sold