About This Print
Picturing Tokyo's (the Eastern Capital) theater district along Saruwaka Street crowded with customers, this print features two geisha in the foreground whose names (unread) are shown in the red rectangular cartouches. The large lantern on the right bears the name Omotakaya as does the box being held by one of the geisha. Banners along the street announce the performances and actors and the name of the actor Sawamura Tosshō 沢村訥舛 can be seen on the first banner on the left.
This collection's print on the left displays poor registration as compared with another impression on the right.
Also note the absence of the artist's seal in the signature cartouche on this collection's print,
suggesting it was hastily produced as a trial print perhaps.
click on image to enlarge
About The Series - Eight Views of the Eastern Capital
The most interesting thing about these prints are the romaji titles in the cartouches next to the series title in the upper right-hand corner. They are complete with misspellings, sometimes making them unintelligible. A complete set of the eight prints is shown below and variant printings are known, including a night-time version of the print "Asakusa no toshin uichi".
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #2368 |
| Title or Description | Sanza no sakawe 三座の栄 (さんざのさかえ) Sanza no sakae The Three Theaters in Saruwaka |
| Series | Eight Views of the Eastern Capital 東都八景之内 (とうとはっけいのうち) Tōto hakkei no uchi |
| Artist | Utagawa Yoshitora (fl. c. 1836-1882) |
| Signature |  |
| Seal | no seal |
| Publication Date |  1871 (year of the goat), 6th month 未六改 |
| Publisher | Sawamuraya Seikichi 沢村屋清吉 seal reading: い (i) [Marks: pub. ref. 459; seal ref. 08-020] |
| Carver |  |
| Impression | fair - poor registration |
| Colors | good |
| Condition | fair - overall toning |
| Genre | ukiyo-e |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | vertical oban |
| H x W Paper | 14 13/16 x 10 in. (37.6 x 25.4 cm) |
| H x W Image | 13 1/16 x 8 3/4 in. (33.2 x 22.2 cm) |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print | Japan Arts Council NA0076554000 |
4/11/2021 created
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