Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
Two ladies going ashore under the Nihonbashi Bridge, in the background numerous cargo boats, another ferry boat and a row of warehouses on the bank of the Sumida River.
Title: Nihonbashi
Series: Gojûsan tsugi (53 stations), the so-called "Jinbutsu (o. Jimbutsu)-Tôkaidô"
Publisher: (Murataya Ichigorô, Muraichi, Edo)
Date: 1851/52
Size: Vertical Chûban, 22 x 16,8 cm (image)
Very good impression, very good and fresh colours. Unbacked, with good margins, as usually a little bit narrower at left. Mainly in margins a little finger-stained, a little rubbed and soiled, small stains, some tiny binding holes along the right margin of the image, a wormhole at right margin, a tiny wormhole at upper margin. Overall still very good.
Here the first station within this charming and surprisingly rarely (especially in fresh colours) seen-series, which is commonly known as "Jinbutsu-Tôkaidô" (Figure Tokaido) or, after the publisher, "Muraichi-Tôkaidô". Since in this series two images were printed on one sheet of paper, many sheets do not bear any signature, censorship or publisher's marks (as here).
Cf. Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) 1966.261; Honolulu Museum of Art 22862 (Michener Coll.); Norton Simon Museum P.1967.27.022ab; National Diet Library (NDL), DOI 10.11501/2541077 (the whole series).
€ 350,-