Page 152 - September 21 2021 Important Japanese Art Christie's NYC

217 UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE II (1826–1869)

Kintai Bridge at Iwakuni in Suo

Province

Woodblock print, from the series Shokoku
meisho hyakkei (One hundred famous views
in the various provinces), signed Hiroshige ga,
published by Uoya Eikichi, 1859
Vertical oban: 14º x 9¬ in. (36.2 x 24.4 cm.)

$8,000-12,000

This winter scene of the Bridge of the Brocade Sash, is considered
the masterpiece of the set. The solitary figures of the boatman
at the top right, poling his raft of timber, and the people on
the bridge with its massive stone pilings, are reminiscent of the
prints of Hiroshige I, but have a poetic sense of man’s isolation
in the forces of nature that is Hiroshige II’s own. For its full
effect, the earliest printings-such as the example here-should be
examined. An effective use of the wood grain is made, as are
touches of mica behind the row of houses in the foreground.
A scratch carving technique derived from lacquer decoration
renders the details of snow-covered willow trees in foreground
and pine trees in distance. The diagonal-striped pattern of two
reds as the background of the publisher’s cartouche is only found
in this edition.