Description
On a summer night on the Sumida River (隅田川) a small crowd of people, aboard yanebune (屋根船) boats, watch fireworks in the sky above a crowded Ryogoku Bridge (両国橋). In the foreground a bijin (美人) beauty, on the left a humorous skit of three men frightened by a spark fallen on the boat.
The beautiful woodblock print presented here was made by the artist Shosai Ikkei (昇斎一景), is entitled “Fireworks at Ryogoku” (両国花火) and is taken from the series “Selection of Thirty-six Humorous Views of Famous Places in Tokyo” (東京名所三十六戯撰).
The print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), produced in 1872 by the publisher Yorozuya Magobei (万屋孫兵衛), despite the right signs of aging including slight stains and two small holes on the margins, is in good general condition.
