100 Views of Edo # 76 Deluxe Edition by Ando Hiroshige

Artist: Ando Utagawa Hiroshige (1787-1858)

Woodblock Prints Title: 100 Views of Edo #76 : Bamboo Yards, Kyôbashi Bridge

1st Publication: December 1857

Size: 13 x 8-5/8 + margins as shown

Date of this edition: December 1857, First Deluxe Edition

Publisher: Uoya Eikichi

Carver: Hori-Sen

Condition: Trimmed pretty close to the margins. Old horizontal crease now flattened. Mica in the sky and in the bottom of the bridge pillars. Great colors, good to very good overall condition

Notes: Original 1st edition by Uoya in 1857.
This is the very rare edition with the boatman in dark blue jacket instead of green, and the blue tone much darker than the more other version, giving this aspect of dark night.
This is one of the deluxe edition, with mica in the sky and in the bottom of the pillars, as you can see on the additional picture section. Usually, this technique was reserved for good customer or prestigious people, as the technology was fairly new, expensive and difficult to master. No light spot, no tears or soiling on this masterpiece. A great addition to any collection.

More about this print: Bamboo was an essential commodity in Edo, both for construction and for seasonal decorations. Stocks of tens of thousands of bamboo poles were brought in as rafts, and bamboo yards, while perhaps not as tall or as thick as shown here, were imposing to behold.

The characters "Hori-Take" on the lantern of the figure just left of center on the bridge are the hidden signature of Yokogawa Hori-Take, one of the best known carvers of the day, an artisan responsible for engraving many of Hiroshige's designs of the 1850s. Here he has inserted his name on the one print most appropriate to its literal meaning: "Carver Bamboo"