100 Views of Edo # 114 by Utagawa Hiroshige

Additional Pictures: Artist: Ando Hiroshige (1787-1858)

Woodblock Print Title: Bikuni Bridge in Snow (Bikunibashi setchu), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)

1st Publication: 1858

Size: Vertical oban; 35.7 x 24.5 cm (14 1/16 x 9 5/8 in.)

Date of this edition: 1858

Publisher: Uoya Eikichi

Condition: Very mild soiling, small repaired pin holes in margin.

More about this print:Two types of eating establishments set the scene here. To the right is a stall selling roasted yams. The lantern advertises with clever wordplay that this winter favorite is "tastier than chestnuts." To the left, a shop offers "mountain whale" (yamakujira), a euphemism for the meat of wild animals. Like other momonjiya ("hairy monster shops"), this establishment would have offered, in addition to the standard fare of boar and deer, such delicacies as bear, monkey, badger, otter, fox, wolf, and weasel. To an Edo clientele, wild-animal flesh had special restorative powers.

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.