Ando Hiroshige (aka Hiroshige),
Japanese,
(1797–1858)
Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido: Station 18, Okitsu, c. 1833-1834
Ink on Paper
8 3/4 in. x 13 11/16 in. (222.25 mm x 347.66 mm)
Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido: Station 18, Okitsu, c. 1833-1834
Ink on Paper
8 3/4 in. x 13 11/16 in. (222.25 mm x 347.66 mm)
Object Type:
Print
Technique:
Wood-block Printing
Period:
Edo (Japan, 1615-1868)
Credit Line:
Gift of Mrs. James W. Johnson
Accession Number:
46.1.36
Alternate Title:
Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi [Hoeidoban]: Okitsu, Okitsugawa
Marks
On verso in pencil: Johnson XVI 18. On mat in pencil: Jo XVI set 18, n.388. Signed: Hiroshige ga.
Medium
Nishiki-e, horizontal oban; colored ink on paper.
Object Description
Color woodblock print of Hiroshige's Tokaido Road series. Six miles from Yui is the scenic spot of Okitsu, not far from the coast of Tago (Tago no ura) and the pine grove of Miho, which makes a background for this humorous scene that shows sumo wrestlers crossing the Okitsu River. One wrestler is carried in a palanquin, and the other, precariously balancing his bulk, perches on a horse led by a groom. Transporting heavy sumo wrestlers posed a challenge for both the men and the horse, and four bearers, instead of the usual two, were needed to carry the palanquin. The grotesque pinnacle at left and its barely secured tree, seemingly unstable as the mounted wrestler, provide a humorouis counterpoint to the earthbound athletes.
Hiroshige based this composition on a picture of traveling wrestlers on the Tokaido Road at Okitsu station, which appeared in a travel guide, "Illustrated Book of Famous Places on the Tokaido Road" by Hara Arimasa, published in the late eighteenth century.
Ref. "Hokusai and Hiroshige," p.181.
Publisher
Senkakudo and Hoeido seals.
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Your current search criteria is: Portfolio is "Johnson Collection of Japanese Prints" and [Objects]Century is "19th c" and [Objects]Display Artist is "Ando Hiroshige" and [Objects]Period is "Edo (Japan, 1615-1868)".