Hiroshige: Cotton-Goods Lane, Odenma-Cho (SOLD)

Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
Title: Cotton-Goods Lane, Odenma-Cho 名所江戸百景　大てんま町木綿店
Series: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Meisho Edo Hyakkei
Date: 1858

We see two women in matching ensembles and their attendant walking carefully along the long row of cotton cloth and dry goods shops in Odenma-cho, still known today as the cotton district of Tokyo. Why the street is mostly deserted yet there is light in the sky could mean that it is early morning, and the women are geisha  who are returning from a night of entertaining. As their hairstyles are slightly imperfect, it might suggest that they are tipsy after a long night out. We glimpse two merchants seated in their shop, surrounded by heaps of cloth. Perhaps they are just starting their morning. The names of the shops are Shimaya at left, Masuya in the center and Tabataya on the right.

Condition: Very good impression, color and condition. Center fold.
Dimensions: ôban (36.5 x 24.7 cm)
Publisher: Uoya Eikichi
Literature: Henry Smith II: Hiroshige One Hundred Famous View of Edo: plate 7. See museum collections of the Brooklyn Museum, British Museum, Chazen, MFA, Honolulu Academy of Art.
Seal: Aratame & date year
Signature: Hiroshige ga

SKU: HIR511