Japanese Woodblock Prints

Japanese Woodblock Prints

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 33. Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) | Horikiri Iris Garden (Horikiri no hanashobu) | Edo period, 19th century.

The Property of a Lady

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) | Horikiri Iris Garden (Horikiri no hanashobu) | Edo period, 19th century

Lot Closed

July 18, 01:35 PM GMT

Estimate

5,000 - 8,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

The Property of a Lady

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)

Horikiri Iris Garden (Horikiri no hanashobu)

Edo period, 19th century

 

woodblock print, from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei), signed Hiroshige ga (Pictured by Hiroshige), censor’s seal aratame (certified), published by Uoya Eikichi, intercalary 5th month 1857

 

Vertical oban: 35.5 x 24.5 cm., 14 x 9⅝ in. 

This design depicts the public garden at Horikiri, said to have the most beautiful irises in the city of Edo. As in a number of other prints from this series, Hiroshige uses a device of placing large objects in the foreground and smaller objects or figures in the background to create a sense of depth. The viewer is looking through the irises, over a stream and towards other visitors in the distance enjoying the flowers – which bloom in early to mid-summer. 

 

For a similar impression of the same print in the collection of the Harvard Art Museums, object number 1933.4.190, go to:

https://harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/208556