Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
The beautiful Omatsu has dozed off, dreaming of her husband Ishii Gennojô returning home alive, accompanied by his squire Sodesuke, as she herself is sitting at the spinning wheel. In the fan-shaped cartouche above, a later scene of the story is illustrated - the two sons of Gennojô taking revenge on Mizuemon for the death of their father in front of the castle of Kameyama (literally "turtle mountain").
Title: Kameyama - (Kameyama Station) - Omatsu - Gennojô - Sodesuke
Series: Tôkaidô gojûsan tsui (53 pairings for the stations of the Tokaido highway)
Signature: Hiroshige ga
Publisher: Ibaya Kyûbei (Ibakyû, Kinseidô), Edo
Censorship: Kiwame
Date: c. 1845
Size: Vertical Ôban, 36,6 x 24,4 cm (overall)
Fine impression, nice colours, with visible wood-grain and very good bokashi. Wide margins, unbacked. Partly a little bit soiled and stained, mainly in corners and margins. A row of small binding holes in right margin and some wormholes professionally restored. Top left corner slightly bevelled and repaired. Overall still good condition. A very graceful depiction of the sleeping beauty.
This Tokaido series of altogether 58 sheets, in which the stations of the Tokaido road are paired with various legendary, historical, dramatic or literary episodes, was jointly designed by three of the most important Ukiyo-e artists of the time - Kunisada, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi, - with 21 prints being by Hiroshige.
Ill. in Marks, Kunisada's Tôkaidô. Riddles Japanese Woodblock Prints. Leiden 2013, p. 106, no. T78-47. Cf. also British Museum, MFA Boston, MAK Vienna a.o. For a transcript and translation of the text cf. Lyon Collection 1095
sold