Edo prints
| Design: | Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) | |||||
| Title: | Viewing the snow from the Uekiya restaurant at Mokuboji | |||||
| Series title: | Famous restaurants of Edo | |||||
| Size: | 22.7 x 35.5 cm (ōban) | |||||
| Posthumous printing from newly cut woodblocks | ||||||
| Photography: | Jacques Commandeur |
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Originally published by Fujiokaya Hikotarō ca. 1835-42. This reproduction published by Yūyūdō in the 1950s.
In this winter scene two well-dressed ladies and their assistent are disembarking from a yanebune at the grounds of Mokuboji temple located on the east bank of the Sumida river. They are on their way to the Uehan restaurant, which is short for the name of its owner, Uekiya Hanemon. It was the most famous of several restaurants located in the vicinity of the temple. It specialized in dishes of taro (a type of vegetable) and clams, and was much prized among stylish residents of late Edo. For the location of Mokuboji temple on an old Edo map, see my second website here.
Artist’s signature in the right print area:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 廣 | hiro | broad | |
| 重 | shige | heavy | Picture by |
| 画 | ga | picture | Hiroshige |
Series title in red rectangular cartouche at top right of the print:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 江 | e | bay | |
| 戸 | do | door | |
| 高 | kō | distinguished | |
| 名 | mei | noted | |
| 会 | kai | meeting | |
| 亭 | tei | restaurant | |
| 尽 | zukushi | serve | Famous restaurants of Edo |
Print title at left of the print:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 木 | moku | tree | |
| 母 | bo | mother | |
| 寺 | ji | temple | |
| 雪 | yuki | snow | |
| 見 | mi | viewing | |
| 植 | ue | plant | Viewing the snow |
| 木 | ki | wood | from the Uekiya restaurant |
| 屋 | ya | shop | at Mokuboji |
Yūyūdō publisher seal and names of the carver and printer of this edition in the right margin of the print:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 彫 | hori | carver | Carver: |
| 小 | ko | small | |
| 池 | ike | pond | |
| 茂 | shigeru | grow thick | Koike Shigeru |
| 摺 | suri | printer | Printer: |
| 遠 | en | distant | 藤 | tō | wisteria |
| 忠 | tada | loyalty | |
| 雄 | o | hero | Endō Tadao |
References
- Forrer, Matthi (2010). Hokusai. Munich: Prestel Verlag.
- Uhlenbeck, Chris, and Jansen, Marije (2008). Hiroshige, Shaping the Image of Japan. Leiden: Hotei Publishing.
Provenance: Fuji Arts