Small Format Reproduction of: Fireworks at Ryōgoku, No. 98 from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

Small Format Prints - Shin Hanga and Ukiyo-e Reproductions
 

Japanese Color Woodblock Print

Small Format Reproduction, c. 1930s, of:

Fireworks at Ryōgoku, No. 98 from the series

One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 1858

after Utagawa Hiroshige

Small Format Reproduction: [After Hasegawa Chikuyō's] Sacred Bridge from the series 12 Views of Famous Places in Nikko

IHL Cat. #1446

About This Print

A small format reproduction of Hiroshige's depiction of the fireworks over the Sumida River at the kawabiraki (opening of the river) festival.  In this reproduction the title cartouches normally present in the upper right hand corner, as seen in an early edition of this print shown below, have been eliminated and the print's title 両国花火 has been placed in the upper left-hand corner.

Source: Hokusai and Hiroshige: Great Japanese Prints from the James A. Michener Collection, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Julia M. White, et. al., The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 1998, p. 238.
The most exciting event that people of Edo awaited was Kawabiraki, the "opening of the river," an event that originated in the eighteenth century to appease the evil spirits of the plague and famine then afflicting Japan.  That first event was capped by a spectacular display of fireworks, which became traditional.  People would crowd the Ryōgoku Bridge, filling all the space on the riverbanks as well as the restaurants and boats.  This ceremony, with occasional lapses, continued into the twentieth century.


original oban size print, 1858
14 x 9.5 in. (35.5 x 24.1 cm)

Print Details

 IHL Catalog #1446
 Title Fireworks at Ryōgoku, No. 98 
 Ryōgoku hanabi  両国花火
 Series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
 Meisho Edo hyakkei 名所江戸百景
 Artist  after Utagawa Hiroshige I (1797-1858)
 Signature 
 廣重画 Hiroshige ga
 Seal of the Artist not sealed
 Publication Date: Original Print 1858, 8th month
 Publication Date: Reproduction c. 1930s
 Publisher: Original Print Uoya Eikichi
 Publisher: Reproduction
Takemura Hideo 竹村秀雄 (H. Takemura & Co.) [Marks: seal not shown; pub. ref. 524]
located in lower left corner (barely visible)
 Impression excellent
 Colors excellent
 Condition excellent
 Miscellaneous
 Genre ukiyo-e, fukusei-ga
 Format yatsugiri
 H x W Paper 5 1/4 x 3 7/16 in. (13.3 x 8.7 cm )
 H x W Image 5 1/8 x 3 5/16 in. (13 x 8.4 cm)  
 Collections This Print
 Reference Literature