Ōsumi Sakurashima, Iris and Kingfisher and Saigō Nanshū from the series Ryūsai manga

 

Japanese Color Woodblock Print

Ōsumi Sakurashima, Iris and Kingfisher, and

Saigō Nanshū from the series Ryūsai manga

by Utagawa Hiroshige III, 1879

Suruga-chō, Evening scene of Mitsui Bank with Mt Fuji from the series Famous Places of Tokyo: Past and Present

IHL Cat. #1584

About This Print


The artist Utagawa Hiroshige III, a disciple of the great Utagawa Hiroshige I (1797-1858), created these sketches (manga), which were arranged three, four or five to a single sheet as a harimaze-e, in 1879.  Titled "Sketches by Ryūsai", Ryūsai being an artist name (gō) of Hiroshige III, they were very much in the tradition of his master Hiroshige I, who is sometimes credited as the inventor of the print genre harimaze, which can be literally translated as "paste and mix pictures" and is commonly translated as "cut-out pictures."

The height of their popularity was in the mid-1800s and these inexpensive prints were purchased and then often cut-apart and pasted onto Japanese screens or into scrapbooks.  Harimazi-e could include the work of multiple artists or just a single artist, as in  the case of these harimaze-e.  For other examples of harimazi-e in this collection see Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889) and his works from the series Kyōsai Manga.

In the above print the right panel pictures the volcano Sakurajima at Ōsumi on Sakura Island, with sailing ships in the sea around the island.  Hiroshige III's image is quite similar to that of Hiroshige I's print of Sakurajima at Ōsumi in his 1854 series Famous Views in the Sixty-Odd Provinces.  

 
Hiroshige III's Ōsumi Sakurashima
 
Hiroshige I's Ōsumi Sakurashima

The bottom panel titled Saigō Nanshū no zō depicts one of the great heroes, and later betrayer, of the Meiji Reformation Saigō Takamori (1828-1877), brush in hand having just completed one of his many instructive verses. Saigō adopted the pen name Nanshū, meaning South, during his five years in exile on the island of Oshima.
 

Print Details

 IHL Catalog
 #1584
 Title or Description top right: Ōsumi Sakurashima 大隅さくらしま (おおすみ さくらしま)
 top left: Iris and Kingfisher 菖蒲に翡翠 (しょうぶ にかわせみ)
 bottom: Saigō Nanshū no zō 西郷南洲之像 (さいごうなんしゅうのぞう)
 Series Sketches by Ryūsai 
 Ryūsai manga 立斎漫画
 Artist Utagawa Hiroshige III (1842–1894)
 Signature
画工：安藤徳兵エ [as printed in left margin]
artist name: Andō Tokubei [Hiroshige III's family name]
 Seal
"Hiro" diamond seal [this seal was also used by Hiroshige I]
 Publication Date
明治12年4月28日御届
April 28, 1879
 Publisher
 Mizuno Keijirō 水野慶治郎 (Fujiokaya Keijirō) [Marks: pub. ref. 063; seal not shown]
 Carver
 Impression excellent
 Colors excellent
 Condition excellent
 Genre ukiyo-e; harimaze-e
 Miscellaneous   
 Format oban
 H x W Paper 
 14 3/16 x 9 9/16 in. (36 x 24.3 cm)
 H x W Image
 13 1/4 x 8 7/8 in. (33.7 x 22.5 cm)
 Literature 

 Collections This Print
 Katsushika City Museum KM95B00-112; Shizuoka Prefectural Central Library K915-108-021-044 
latest revision:
3/28/2020