100 Views of Edo # 68 1st Edition by Ando Hiroshige

Additional Pictures:



Artist: Ando Utagawa Hiroshige (1787-1858)

Woodblock Print Title: Open Garden at Fukagawa Hachiman Shrine (Fukagawa Hachiman yamabiraki), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)

1st Publication: August 1857

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

Date of this edition: August 1857

Publisher: Uoya Eikichi

Condition: Deep reinforced vertical crease, else fine.

Notes: Very rare 1st edition with 3 colors in the title cartouche.

More about this print: This brightly colored print shows one of the most famous temple gardens of Edo, that of Eitaiji Temple in the Fukagawa district. One special feature of the Eitaiji Temple garden was that it was open only one short period each year, beginning on the twenty-first day of the Third Month, the occasion of a memorial ceremony for Kobo Daishi, founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. Although typically the public was not able to view the blooming of both pink cherries and red azaleas at the same time, the scene Hiroshige depicts here would have been possible every few years thanks to the variability of the lunar calendar.

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.