100 Views of Edo # 51 by Ando Hiroshige

Artist: Ando Utagawa Hiroshige (1787-1858)

Woodblock Prints Title: 100 Views of Edo # 51 - Sannô Festival Procession at Kôjimachi l-Chôme

1st Publication: July 1856

Size: 8-3/4 x 13-1/2 + Margins as shown

Date of this edition: 1856, 2nd state.

Publisher: Uoya Eikichi

Condition: 4 worm holes repaired in the upper margins, else, in perfect condition. Outstanding colors, and impression, excellent overall condition.

Notes: This is the second printing. The colors are slightly different from the deluxe edition, and no mica in the print. Nonetheless, the condition of this print is really amazing.

More about this print: Hiroshige here depicts the Sannô Shrine Festival at the symbolic moment when the festival procession enters Edo Castle from the Kojimachi quarter at the very center of the city.

The entire procession, which occurred between the tenth and sixteenth days of the sixth month, consisted of more than fifty large and lavishly decorated floats, of which Hiroshige provides only a hint. The two floats here come from two of the city's oldest commoner districts.

The float in the distance represents a monkey, while the one in the foreground is an ornamental rooster perched on a large legendary Chinese "drum of admonition" that sage-kings used to summon and chastise their subjects.

Pictures: Pictures are taken outdoor, in the shade, to reflect true colors, without any enhancements of any kind. The last picture is taken indoor, with a light behind the print, to reveal the exact paper grain, holes if any, or other possible flaws.