View of the Kanda Water Supply Flowing through Yamabuki (Kerria) Village in Mejiroshita
Woodblock Print
1857 (made)
1857 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
The night view looking westwards along the Kanda Water Supply in this uchiwa-e (rigid fan print) design by Hiroshige is taken just upstream from where the watercourse divided into two at Sekiguchi on the southern border of Edo's Zoshigaya district. The northern branch of the Kanda Water Supply, which was constructed in the early 17th century, flowed east towards Suidobashi and then turned south over a wooden aqueduct. The southern branch, effectively the overspill, flowed over a dam and joined the Sotobori Outer Moat at Iidabashi. In the middle distance we can see the Komadome Bridge, and to the right the edge of the high ground occupied by the Suijin Shrine, dedicated, like its counterpart on the east bank of the Sumida river, to the god of water. The Kerria Village of the title refers to a legend concerning the medieval warlord Ota Dokan (1432-1486), whose aspiration to become a poet is said to have been inspired by a chance meeting with a young girl who gave him a sprig of kerria blossom. The three known designs from this series, published the year before Hiroshige died, are remarkable for the quality of calm engendered by their wide horizons and the unusual way in which their female subjects gaze into the distance with their backs turned to the viewer.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Titles |
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Materials and techniques | Woodblock print on paper |
Brief description | Woodblock print, Utagawa Hiroshige I; 'View of the Kanda Water Supply Flowing through Yamabuki (Kerria) Village in Mejiroshita', from the series 'A Mirror of Famous Rivers in the Eastern Capital'; fan print, Japanese, 1857 |
Physical description | Fan print, aiban size. Artist signature: Hiroshige ga. Publisher mark: Ibaya Senzaburo. Censorship seal: aratame. Date seal: Snake 1 (1857/1). |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Object history | Purchased from S. M. Franck & Co., accessioned in 1886. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project. |
Place depicted | |
Summary | The night view looking westwards along the Kanda Water Supply in this uchiwa-e (rigid fan print) design by Hiroshige is taken just upstream from where the watercourse divided into two at Sekiguchi on the southern border of Edo's Zoshigaya district. The northern branch of the Kanda Water Supply, which was constructed in the early 17th century, flowed east towards Suidobashi and then turned south over a wooden aqueduct. The southern branch, effectively the overspill, flowed over a dam and joined the Sotobori Outer Moat at Iidabashi. In the middle distance we can see the Komadome Bridge, and to the right the edge of the high ground occupied by the Suijin Shrine, dedicated, like its counterpart on the east bank of the Sumida river, to the god of water. The Kerria Village of the title refers to a legend concerning the medieval warlord Ota Dokan (1432-1486), whose aspiration to become a poet is said to have been inspired by a chance meeting with a young girl who gave him a sprig of kerria blossom. The three known designs from this series, published the year before Hiroshige died, are remarkable for the quality of calm engendered by their wide horizons and the unusual way in which their female subjects gaze into the distance with their backs turned to the viewer. |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.12083-1886 |
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Record created | March 5, 2000 |
Record URL |
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