Ryōgoku Yanagibashi Kawachiya (Kawachiya at Yanagibashi in Ryōgoku), from the series Edo kōmei kaitei zukushi (Compendium of Famous Restaurants in Edo)

Ryōgoku Yanagibashi Kawachiya (Kawachiya at Yanagibashi in Ryōgoku), from the series Edo kōmei kaitei zukushi (Compendium of Famous Restaurants in Edo)

Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858)

ca. 1838-1842

Japan: Edo period (1615-1868)

color woodblock print on paper

image: 8 11/16 in x 13 11/16 in; sheet: 9 7/8 in x 14 3/8 in

inscription: 狂句合 // おつな // 業平 // 河内屋へ // 度々通ひ //ヒトヒ, printed in black ink within fan-shaped cartouche on red and green patterned ground, upper right Transliteration (Translation): kyōku awase // otsuna // Narihira // Kawachiya he // tabitabi kayoi // Hitohi (Contests of comic verse // stylish Narihiras // always coming and going // from the Kawachiya [by] Hitohi) Language: Japanese Description: Kyōka (short-form comic verse) on the Kawachiya restaurant. Narihira is a play on words, referring to both the romantic hero and poet of the Heian period (794-1185), Ariwara no Narihira, and the contemporary slang for dandy.

publisher's mark: 藤彦, printed in black relief within rectangular cartouche, left margin, bottom Transliteration (Translation): Fujihiko ([seal of the publisher Fujiokaya Hikotarō 藤岡屋彦太郎]) Language: Japanese Description: Edo publisher, firm Shōgendō 松原堂 active c. 1832-1851.

censor's mark: 極, printed in black relief within circular cartouche, left margin, bottom Transliteration (Translation): kiwame (approval) Language: Japanese

publisher's mark: 松原堂, printed in red intaglio within gourd-shaped cartouche, lower right Transliteration (Translation): Shōgendō ([seal of the publisher Fujiokaya Hikotarō 藤岡屋彦太郎]) Language: Japanese Description: Edo publisher, firm Shōgendō 松原堂 active c. 1832-1851.

signature: 廣重画, printed in black ink, center right Transliteration (Translation): Hiroshige ga (picture [by] Hiroshige) Language: Japanese

title: 両国柳橋, printed in black ink, upper right Transliteration (Translation): Ryōgoku Yanagibashi (Yanagibashi at Ryōgoku) Language: Japanese Description: Red intaglio seal next to the title with the name of the famous restaurant, Kawachiya 河内屋, missing from this impression.

series title: 江 / 高名會亭盡, printed in black ink within rectangular cartouche on yellow ground, top right Transliteration (Translation): Edo / kōmei kaitei zukushi (compendium of famous restaurants in Edo) Language: Japanese

Museum Purchase: Margery Hoffman Smith Fund

2017.6.1

public domain

boats

Edo

Japanese woodblock prints

relief printing

relief prints

woodcuts