INSIDE THE SAKURADA GATE (Utagawa Hiroshige III)

N.1 ukiyo-e woodblock print
Year: 1869
Condition: fair
Size: 24 x 36 cm

SOLD

Description

Original woodblock print of vertical large oban (大判) format produced in February 1869 by the publisher Hiranoya Shinzo (平野屋新蔵), owner of Aikindo (愛錦堂). The work, made by the artist Utagawa Hiroshige III (三代目歌川広重), is taken from the series “A Collection of Pictures of Famous Scenic Spots in Tokyo” (東京名勝図会) and is titled “Inside the Sakurada Gate” (さくらだうち).

The artist depicts the daily comings and goings at the Sakuradamon (桜田門), the largest of the gates of the Edo Castle (江戸城) which, in the months immediately preceding the realization of this woodcut, after the capitulation of the shogunate, had become the residence of the emperor with the name Tokei-jo (東京城), that is “Tokei Castle”, and which just three months after the publication of this work would be renamed to “Imperial Castle” Kojo (皇城).

The print on Japanese washi paper (和 紙), despite the presence of slight horizontal fold marks and evident imperfections and restorations on the margins, is in overall fair condition.