100 Views of Edo # 23 Deluxe 1st Edition by Ando Hiroshige

Additional Pictures:



Artist: Ando Utagawa Hiroshige (1787-1858)

Woodblock Print Title: Chiyogaike Pond, Meguro (Meguro Chiyogaike), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)

1st Publication: July 1856

Size: Vertical ôban; 35.9 x 24.6 cm (14 1/8 x 9 11/16 in.)

Date of this edition: July 1856, 1st Edition

Publisher: Uoya Eikichi

Condition: Trimmed to the margin in the upper and lower section of the print. Margins partially trimmed on the right and left side affecting the seal. Reinforced thin area in the lower right corner not affecting the print.

Notes: Very rare 1st edition of this print. Deluxe edition with Mica in the river bank area. Usually, this technique was reserved for good customer or prestigious people, as the technology was fairly new, expensive and difficult to master.

More about this print: Description Chiyogaike Pond, located on a bluff overlooking the valley of the Meguro River in suburban Edo, was named after a medieval warrior's wife who drowned herself in the pond on hearing of her husband's death in battle. The depiction of reflections in the pond—the cherry trees to the left mirrored in the water in a faint haze of pink—is unusual for Hiroshige. Water reflections were already an artistic convention in Japan in the late seventeenth century, and ensuing Western influences in the eighteenth century made such pictorial effects, together with the comparable use of shadows, familiar to ukiyo-e artists. Still, they used the technique sparingly.

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.