Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | Ushibori in Hitachi Province (Joshu Ushibori) | Edo period, 19th century
Lot Closed
December 19, 01:11 PM GMT
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)
Ushibori in Hitachi Province (Joshu Ushibori)
Edo period, 19th century
woodblock print, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei), signed Saki no Hokusai Iitsu hitsu (Brush of Iitsu, the former Hokusai), no publisher's mark but published by Nishimuraya Yohachi (Eijudo), early 1831, blue outline
Horizontal oban: 25.6 x 33.9 cm., 10⅛ x 13⅜ in.
It is the early hours of dawn: a man leans over his boat to rinse the starch from rice for the morning meal. The splashing of water startles two egrets nestled among the reeds. The timber-framed cargo boat, or takasebune, is placed along a diagonal axis within the composition; the position of its bow mirrored by the slopes of Mount Fuji in the distance. The most remote location of the entire series, Ushibori is a harbour town some seventy-five kilometres northeast of Edo, on the south shore of Lake Kasumigaura.
For a similar impression printed entirely in shades of Berlin blue in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET), accession number JP2565, go to:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/60027962
For a further impression in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number 46.1405, go to: