Edo prints


  Design: Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)  
  Title: Kirifuri Waterfall at Mount Kurokami in Shimotsuke Province  
  Series title: Going the rounds of the waterfalls in all provinces  
  Size: 38.0 x 25.8 cm (ōban)  
  Posthumous printing from newly cut woodblocks    
  Photography: Jacques Commandeur
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Hokusai Kirifuri Waterfall at Mount Kurokami in Shimotsuke Province

Enlargement


Originally published around 1832 by publisher Nishimuraya Yohachi, whose firm name was Eijūdō (永寿堂).

Artist’s signature in bottom right print area:

Character Reading Meaning Translation
       
zen before  
hoku north  
sai room Drawn by
i change Iitsu,
itsu one formerly known
hitsu writing brush as Hokusai

Red round censorship seal reading kiwame (‘approved’) and square Eijūdō seal of the original publisher Nishimuraya Yohachi in lower right of the print.

Series and print title in white cartouche in top right of the print:

Character Reading Meaning Translation
       
sho all  
koku provinces  
taki waterfall Going the round
megu go around of the waterfalls
ri   in all provinces
       
shimo lower part  
tsuke plain  
kuro black  
kami hair  
yama mountain  
ki    
ri    
fu    
ri dropping mist Kirifuri waterfall
no ’s at Mount Kurokami
taki waterfall in Shimotsuke Province


One man high up on the right of the waterfall holds a hat bearing the character ei (永), which stands for Eijūdō, the name of the publisher’s firm. The character (寿), from this same name, appears on the hat against the bundle belonging to the man seated at the foot of the waterfall. Nishimuraya’s trademark is displayed on the blue bundle carried by one of the men standing at the foot of the waterfall.


References


Provenance: The Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints

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