100 Views of Edo # 70 Deluxe Edition by Ando Hiroshige

Artist: Ando Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)

Woodblock Prints Title: 100 Views of Edo # 70 : Nakagawa River Mouth

1st Publication: February 1857

Size: 13-5/8 x 8-7/8 plus margin as shown

Date of this edition: February 1857, 1st Edition

Publisher: Uoya Eikichi

Carver: Hori-sen

Condition: Re margin on both right and left side of the print. Great colors and excellent first impression, with very strong wood grain from the original blocks. Good overall condition.

Notes: This is an extremely rare first edition, Deluxe edition with Mica in the floor area. Usually, this technique was reserved for good customer or prestigious people, as the technology was fairly new, expensive and difficult to master. Great print, great colors, splendid wood marks from the original block, mica, a real masterpiece from this 100 views of Edo series.

More about this print: The two passenger boats in the lower half of this print are crossing paths on the Onagi Canal at the point where it joins the Nakagawa River, the broad stream in the center. They are passing in front of a guard station barely visible at the lower left.

This checkpoint, established for military security in the early Edo period, was apparently once quite strict. By Hiroshige’s time, however, after more than two centuries of peace, the inspection procedure was a mere formality. A memory of the inspection station survives today in the Guardhouse Bridge, which spans the entrance to the Onagi Canal.

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.