JAPANESE ART > UKIYO-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS > SHONO

Lot 00639
N.1 ukiyo-e woodblock print

Utagawa Hiroshige

SHONO

Year: 1852
Condition: good
Size: 16,5 x 23 cm

SOLD

Precious original woodblock print made by the artist Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) and taken from the "Fifty-three Stations [of the Tokaido]" (五十三次), a series better known as "Jinbutsu Tokaido" (人物東海道), that is the "Figure Tokaido", a title deriving from the fact that all the designs of the collection show the human figures not just as tiny decorations but as important elements in the foreground of each station.

The work is dedicated to the Shono station (庄野宿), in the ancient Ise Province (伊勢国), and depicts some travelers during their evening rest. Shono, which is now a part of the city of Suzuka (鈴鹿市), in Hiroshige's time was only a small station among the mountains, with nothing to attract the attention of travelers, except for small bales of yakigome (焼米) dried rice sold as souvenirs.

The print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), produced in 1852 by the publisher Murataya Ichigoro (村田屋市五郎), despite the patina of time is in good general condition.

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