Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797-1858)
Title: Hatsune Riding Grounds, Bakuro-cho 馬喰町初音の馬場 Series: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo 名所江戸百景(Meisho Edo Hyakkei) Date: 9/1857
Bakuro-cho Hatsune no Baba. As Henry Smith II says, “A sense of calm pervades this gentle spring view of the open space known as Hatsune no Baba, located in downtown Edo not far from Asakusa Gate.” Dyers from Konya-cho have strung bolts of cloth to dry, also spanning the foreground of the design. In the background we see a fire lookout tower, a structure that Hiroshige knew well from his earlier inherited occupation as a fire warden. The willow trees have tiny green buds. There is some mica applied to the dark grey along the bottom, and the blue cloth features grey lead pigment, which has oxidized as intended.
Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. With large, completely untrimmed margins. Three pinholes in the sky and one tiny hole in upper margin.
Dimensions: 37.1 x 24.8 cm
Publisher: Uoya Eikichi Signature: Hiroshige ga
Literature: Henry Smith II: “Hiroshige’s One Hundred Famous Views of Edo”, plate 6. See Brooklyn Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, MFA Boston, National Museum of Asian Art, British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
SKU: HIR564
