One Hundred Famous Views of Edo - In 1856, Hiroshige began designing what was to be his last great series and a masterpiece, "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo." The series contains 118 vertical format woodblocks of classic Hiroshige landscapes. From spring cherry blossoms to summer fireworks, from quiet scenes along the river to lively festival celebrations, Hiroshige captures life in old Edo in dramatic and interesting ways. Hiroshige employed an inventive compositional technique in many of the prints, using large foreground elements to frame a distant view in the background, such as the image of Kinryuzan Temple seen through the doorway of the famous Thunder Gate. Beautifully printed with fine bokashi shading, "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" retains its popularity today as one of Hiroshige's great masterworks, and includes some of his most memorable images.

Surimono - Surimono are an exclusive subcategory of Japanese woodblock prints. Poetry clubs commissioned these designs for distribution to a small audience of members, most often as New Year's greetings. These privately published images included a wonderful range of subjects and lavish printing techniques such as embossing, burnishing, and metallic pigments. Since surimono were not sold commercially, the print runs were very small and original Edo era surimono are incredibly rare in the market today.

During the 1890s, publishers reprinted some of the most popular designs by famous artists like Hokkei, Gakutei, Hokusai and others. In keeping with the surimono tradition, the Meiji printings were equally exquisite, printed with the finest inks and embellished with embossing, lacquered pigments, and other design features. In some cases, the original Edo era prints no longer exist, making the Meiji reprints the only record of these subjects. These fascinating and beautifully printed images continue to delight collectors today.

Woman of Ohara with Firewood Bundle and Kite Surimono - Attractive portrait of a beauty from Ohara balancing a load of firewood atop her head. A miniature yakko-dako or man kite of a footman or low-ranking servant has become tangled in the brush, and she reaches up to free the kite with one hand, a slightly puzzled expression on her face. A charming surimono design with a subtle color palette.

Artist - Hokusai (1760 - 1849)

Image Size - 8 3/8" x 6 7/8"

Condition - With excellent color and detail as shown. Slight thinning or paper remnants on reverse at corners from previous folio mounting. Small tear at lower left edge, repaired, blends well. Slight soiling, a few creases. Please see photos for details. Good overall.