Hiroshige 広重: Shitaya Hirokoji 下谷 広小路 from 100 Views of Edo (Sold)

Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 (1797-1858)
Title: Shitaya Hirokoji 下谷 広小路
Series: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo 名所江戸百景 (Meisho Edo Hyakkei)
Date: 1856

The silk-goods store Ito Matsuzakaya dominates the corner of this thoroughfare, just as it does to this day as the department store Matsuzakaya, now the major retail anchor in front of the Ueno Hirokoji subway station. In this scene we see several distinct groups of Edoites, including deliverymen with large packs that bear the shop’s crest, lower right. We see a festive group of women with matching parasols heading en masse for an outing at a temple, their porters following them with items for a picnic. Just past the large department store is a barbershop, and the street continues with a strong perspective and the diagonal design that was favored by Hiroshige. 

Condition: Very good impression, color and condition. Center fold.
Dimensions: ôban (36.8 x 24.5 cm)
Publisher: Uoya Eikichi
Literature: Henry Smith II: Hiroshige One Hundred Famous View of Edo, plate 13. See the Art Institute of Chicago, MFA Boston, Chazen and Honolulu Museum collections. 
Seal: Censor’s seal “Aratame” and Date seal 
Signature: Hiroshige ga

SKU: HIR528