Description
Polychrome large vertical format woodblock print taken from the “Scenes of Famous Places along the Tokaido Road” (東海道名所絵), the famous series of prints, also known as “The Processional Tokaido” (御上洛東海道), which was made with a exceptional collaboration of different artists and publishers to commemorate the historic journey from Edo (江戸) to Kyoto (京都) of the procession of the shogun Tokugawa Iemochi (徳川家茂) who in 1863, when the Tokugawa shogunate was in a state of final weakness and dissolution, went to pay his respect to the emperor.
The work, printed by the publisher Iseya Kanekichi (伊勢屋兼吉), is signed by the artist Utagawa Hiroshige II (二代目歌川広重) and in the foreground depicts the procession while, in today’s Aichi Prefecture (愛知県), is crossing the great bridge over the Toyo River (豊川), one of the few bridges permitted on the Tokaido by the shogunate, towards the Yoshida Castle (吉田城).
The precious woodblock print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), despite the presence of some slight wrinkles, is in good condition.
