Hiroshige’s – Famous Views of Sixty Odd Provinces; Sado Mines.
Date: 7-1-19 R. A. Pinkowitz
Background
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 1858) designed the series “Famous Views of Sixty Odd Provinces” between 1853-56. They were published as a serialized form by Koshimuraya Heisuke. There are 70 prints in the series, 68 prints, one each of the 68 provinces at the time, one of Edo, the capital and one contents page.
The series was first published in Sept. 1853 (Kaei 6) and was completed in May 1856 (Ansei 3). The first 42 prints were completed in 1853, while the remainder were more slowly completed, through 61 in 1854, and the remaining were published between the third and fifth months of 1856.
The prints were published in vertical oban size, 35.6 cm x 24.8 cm. It was the first series to print in this size and it set the stage for Hiroshige’s last series, “100 Views of Edo” which also was published in vertical oban size.
Comparison of five prints; The Pulverer Collection, which is reproduced in the book, “Hiroshige’s Journey in the 60 Odd provinces, by Marije Jansen, Museum of Fine Arts collection accession numbers 11.26255, 06.823.36, 11.16918 which are available on their web site; www.mfa.org and one in a private collection.
#36 – Sado Province; Gold Mines
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1853/9 (Yr/Month)
Size: oban-tate-e 35.6 x 24. cm (14 x 9 ¾ in)
Pulverer Collection:
Photo from book illustration.
Overall: Full margins with two censor seals ( Hama/ Magome) at the top right and two publisher seals (Heisuke) on the left hand side.
Top: Darker blue of the sky at the top blended with bokashi towards the bottom band of white. Below the white sky and slightly above the background mountains is a band of red. (Not visible in book image, however, in other images wood grain is seen in sky, white in Pulverer and blue in others.)
Background: Grey mountain with an overprinting of black accentuating the peak. Below a pink mountain with slight details of lighter color accentuating the mountain top.
Middle Ground: Mountain shaded darker green at the top blending into lighter green of the mountain which represents a major background of the image. Abrupt change from the green of the mountain to the yellow of the exposed mountainside.
Foreground: Greenery on the left hand side slope is dark and not clearly differentiating the greenery of the trees. Streams and sand in the foreground are overprinted with slight highlights to add realism to the foreground. House in the foreground has dark overprinting on the roof. The awning is the same color as the wall. The small figures in the foreground are well printed and color details are well registered in the print.
Cartouches: The Series title cartouche and the artist cartouche are red. The subtitle cartouche is light pink.
Private Collection
Photo from image.
Overall: Full margins with slight trim of left hand side seals. Censor sea on Left Hand Side, Hama Magome, Ox 9. Blemish, strong dot of color, on upper left hand side of mountain. Pleasing and reasonable palette
Top: Sky in two bands of blue. Darker overprinting with slight bokashi. Wood grain visible in left of center in light blue sky.
Background: Grey mountain with darker, black, overprint on mountain top. Foreground mountain yellow with pink highlights.
Middle Ground: Green mountain has shading, darker green at the top of the mountain, blending into the continuous green of the mountain. Some dots as details of trees. A small but distinct blemish on the left hand side of the mountain a small but dark dot of green.
Abrupt transition from the green to the yellow of the mountain side. Color of this more golden yellow. Nice shading of color to show the rock formation on the mountain leading to the caves.
Foreground: Water in streams a uniform darker blue. Ground a dull grey. Small figures well defined mostly two colors, blue of stream and yellow. House roof in immediate foreground is yellow with dark shading on top. Greenery on bottom left hand side of mountain very dark green.
Cartouches: Series Title; Sixty Odd Provinces in darker red, also left hand artists signature cartouche is darker red. Subtitle cartouche is pink color and does not appear to be faded significantly.
Museum of Fine Arts, Accession Number 11.26255; From Bigelow Collection
Photo downloaded from www.MFA.org
Other Impressions at the MFA are: 06.823.36; 11.16918
Overall: Full margined with censor seal, Hama Magome, Ox 9 and publisher seals. Holes on right hand margin from possible album binding.
Top: Sky in this image is light blue with overprinting of darker blue at the top. Overprinted band of dark blue with bokashi blending into lighter blue sky. Woodgrain visible in blue sky.
Background: Mountain in background grey. Lacks overprinted shading on top. Foreground mountain is brownish with reddish brown highlights.
Middle Ground: Middle ground green mountain lacks darker green shading along ridge line. Some subtle shading and gradation of green to yellow as it descends the mountain.
Foreground: Mountain side more yellow than gold. Nice workmanship in use of color to distinguish the rock formation at the cave entrances versus the mountain side. Water in streams a light blue. Lack of darker overprinting on water in stream or ground. Greenery on bottom left hand side light green. Workers two colors, predominantly blue of stream with some yellow tones. House in foreground single yellow tone.
Cartouches. Title cartouche and artist on left hand side both dark red. Image title cartouche is light pink.
MFA; Accession Number 11.16918; From the Bigelow Collection
Photo downloaded from www.MFA.org
Overall: Top margin trimmed, although not impinging on the image it does remove the publisher seals. Gaps in color registration throughout.
Top: Sky overprinting of dark blue band on top of the lighter blue sky with evidence of bokashi. No wood grain seen in sky.
Background: Background mountain is grey with overprinted darker black at the top. Black blended into mountain. White gaps in color indicating block mismatching. Foreground mountain is brown with pink highlights.
Middle Ground: Foreground mountain is single shade of green. Slight details implying tees. White gaps of color indicating mismatching of block. Slight shading of green to transition to the golden yellow of the mountain side.
Foreground: Mountain side more gold. Rock formation around cave entrance a green not too indicative of rock formation color. Water streams a light blue. No overprinting of darker colors. People light blue and yellow. Vegetation on the bottom left hand side a light green with nice shade difference between the greenery and shrubs.
Cartouche: Series cartouche and artist signature cartouche are dark red. Image sub-title cartouche is a faded pink. Slight gap of white color indicating poor match of blocks.
MFA; Accession Number 06.823.36; Gift of Denman Waldo Ross
Photo downloaded from www.mfa.org
Overall: Trimmed bottom margin, just at margin of image. Right hand margin narrow. Top and left hand margins wide. Multiple gaps in color registration. Outer black frame of image shows signs of wear. Many holes on left hand margin indicating that it was bound. May also have been repaired. White stain on left hand side of image. Has censor seals: Harna, Magome, Ox 9, and publisher seals.
Top: Sky has two blue bands. Over printing of dark blue band. Slight indication of diminished wood grain in the sky.
Background: Mountain, grey brown with dark overprinting on top. Nicely blended color with lighter mountain grey. Gap on right hand side of mountain top indicating poor registration of blocks. Foreground mountain brown with pink highlights.
Middle Ground: Solid green of mountain. No overprinting of shading on ridges. Nice blending of color from Green of mountain to yellow of the mountain side with a band of lighter green.
Foreground: Mountain side a yellow. Foreground mountain all green. Slight white stain near left hand margin. White striations on top left hand side of mountain.
Rock formations around cave entrance a yellowish brown, not too distinctive.
Water stream a darker blue. Ground a brownish grey. No overprinting of darker colors. People are two toned, darker blue and yellow. House at bottom single color, yellow roof.
Greenery at bottom left hand side, a lighter green that contrast well with darker green of other foliage.
Smaller figures in foreground not well registered.
Cartouche: Series cartouche and artist signature cartouche on left hand side red. Significant gaps at bottom of cartouche. Image name cartouches is nearly beige probably faded pink. Significant misregistration of this cartouche.