JAPANESE ART > UKIYO-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS > LEAVES OF WILD GINGER

Lot 00572
N.1 ukiyo-e woodblock print

Utagawa Hiroshige II, Utagawa Kunisada II

LEAVES OF WILD GINGER

Year: 1864
Condition: good
Size: 24 x 36 cm

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I will take care / of the future of the grasses / beneath / the fathomless sea / the thousand-fathomed sea (はかりなき / 千尋の底の / 海松ぶさの / 生ひゆくすゑは / 我のみぞ見む). In the upper part of this elegant original woodblock print from January 1864, taken from a series entitled "Remembrance of the Fifty-four Chapters of Genji" (俤源氏五十四帖), we read the words that the shining Genji (光源氏) recited while admiring the long hair of Lady Murasaki (紫の上).

The work, dedicated to the ninth chapter "Aoi" (葵) of "The Tale of Genji" (源氏物語), is the result of a refined collaboration between the artists Utagawa Hiroshige II (二代目歌川広重) and Utagawa Kunisada II (二代目歌川国貞), which respectively sign the upper and lower part of the print.

The woodcut, produced by the publisher Tsutaya Kichizo (蔦屋吉蔵) owner of Koeido (紅英堂), despite the right signs of aging, is in good condition.

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