Utagawa Hiroshige

1797-1858

One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Distant View of Kinryuzan
(Meisho Edo hyakkei: Azumabashi Kinryuzan endo)

signed Hiroshige ga, with publisher's seal on lower left margin, Shitaya Uo-Ei (Uoya Eikichi), censor's seal aratame (examined), and date seal Mi-hachi (year of the snake [1857], 8th month)

oban tate-e 14 1/4 by 9 1/2 in., 36.1 by 24.2 cm

A pleasure boat departing from the reedy shallows at Mukojima on the Sumida River heads towards the mouth of the San'ya Canal. The shower of flower petals caught in a breeze indicate that it is cherry blossom season, and the boat passengers, including a geisha seated at the far left, have been enjoying a springtime outing in the scenic area around Mimeguri Shrine. The glowing crimson-red bokashi of the sun setting behind Mount Fuji on the distant horizon to the southwest closes the day.

In the middle distance the roof of the huge main hall and five story pagoda of the Kinryuzan Temple rise above the surrounding structures with the Azuma Bridge to the left. Initially known as the Okawa ('great river') Bridge, it was built in 1774 and was the northernmost span over the Sumida River which connected to a road to the Azuma Temple. Maintenance of the bridge was funded by a toll of 2 mon collected from everyone except samurai.

References:
Henry D. Smith II, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Illustrations by Hiroshige, George Braziller & Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1986, no. 39
Yamaguchi Keizaburo, Meihin Soroimono Ukiyo-e, Vol. X: Hiroshige I, 1991, no. 84
Mikhail Uspensky, One Hundred Views of Edo by Ando Hiroshige, 1997, p. 96, no. 39
Melanie Trede and Lorenz Bichler, Hiroshige: One Hundred Views of Edo, 2007, p. 128, no. 39
Goto Kenichiro, Kubo Tsunehiko and Sons Collection, Second Term: Ukiyo-e Hanga Edo-e Hen, 2009, p. 123, no. 97-38
Samuel C. Morse, Reinventing Tokyo: Japan's Largest City in the Artistic Imagination, Mead Art Museum & Anherst College, 2012, p. 66, no. 5
Ichikawa Shinya, The Hara Yasusaburo Collection: HIROSHIGE VIVID Exhibition Catalogue, 2016, p. 236, no. II-53 (re: Azuma Bridge)
Art Institute of Chicago, accession no. 1938.536
The British Museum, registration no. 1948,0410,0.73
Chazen Museum of Art, John H. Van Vleck Collection, accession no. 1980.1618
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (mfa.org), accession nos. 11.16729, 11.35836, 11.36876.29

(inv. no. C-3689)

price: Sold