Item from the Mokuhankan Flea Market

From '53 Stations of Tokaido' - Taisho Era

Size: 26.0cm by 39.0cm (10.24 in by 15.35 in) | Enlargement | Shipping Code: [L] ?

Designer: Ando Hiroshige

Era: Taisho | Currency: $ / £ / €

Price: ¥ 12,000$ 84.00£ 62.75€ 73.50

  

Description: This is a print from what is perhaps the single most famous series of Japanese woodblock prints ever produced - "The 53 Stations of the Tokaido", designed by Hiroshige in the 1830s.

Various reproductions of the series have been published, and this is from a set consists of 55 Oban size prints most likely published during Taisho period, 1912-1926.

Although the publisher and other specific details remain unknown, the print quality is great, with fine details and delicately applied colors. Some of the prints have light wrinkles and slight toning, but it is generally in good condition.

Akasaka station

For this station, Hiroshige depicted the common daily life inside an inn.

A fat and tall sotetsu (cycad) is placed in the center of the image with a Toro (stone lantern) behind it. This tree had been introduced to Japan several hundred years before this era. Because this tree’s shape was quite different from Japanese indigenous trees, it became popular as an exotic object.

On the far left, a man appears to have returned from the hot bath, with a tenugui (Japanese towel) over his shoulder. In front of him the sliding door is open, and we can see a man relaxing on the tatami mats and smoking with a Japanese pipe. A maid is bringing two dinner trays, and a blind masseur (anma) is beside her. In another room over on the right, two 'Meshimori Onna' (entertainers) are applying makeup.

This image conveys the lively atmosphere of an inn very well.

There is a light crease at the upper left corner.

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