Description
Precious original woodblock print made by the artist Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重). The work, printed in July 1855 by the publisher Tsutaya Kichizo (蔦屋吉蔵), owner of Koeido (紅英堂), is entitled “Hiratsuka: Ferry Boats on Banyu River and Distant View of Mount Oyama” (平塚 馬入川舟渡し大山遠望) and is taken from the “Famous Sights of the Fifty-three Stations” (五十三次名所図会), the series also known as “Vertical Tokaido”.
Hiratsuka-juku (平塚宿) was established in 1601, at the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康), and was the seventh of the fifty-three stations of the important route that connected Edo (江戸) and Kyoto (京都). Located in the Kanagawa Prefecture (神奈川県), in this print is depicted in the frame of a suggestive perspective composition dominated in the background by Mount Fuji (富士山).
The print on Japanese washi paper (和紙) is in good general condition, despite the evident patina of the time and the presence of a reinforcement on the upper margin, as well as small holes and in particular binding holes.
