100 Views of Edo # 48 by Ando Hiroshige

Artist: Ando Utagawa Hiroshige (1787-1858)

Woodblock Print Title: Suidô Bridge and Surugadai (Suidôbashi Surugadai), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)

1st Publication: May 1857

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

Date of this edition: May 1857

Publisher: Uoya Eikichi

Condition: Some fading, mild soiling, else very fine.

More about this print: Description Without the three immense carp banners, this view would have been a classic depiction of samurai Edo, looking southwest over the densest single concentration of samurai households in the city, from Surugadai on the left through Banchō in the distance. The banners and streamers indicate that the time is the Boy's Festival, the fifth day of the Fifth Month.

The three carp are standards used by commoners in imitation of the military streamers, which they were prohibited from flying. The banners drew on a Chinese legend of a fish so strong that it could leap a waterfall, an image considered appropriate for young boys. This view thus seems to depict witty merchant-class mimicry of the samurai version of the Boy's Festival.

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.