The Fifty-three Pairs for the Tokaido Road - Around 1845, Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi, and Toyokuni III (Kunisada) contributed designs to a Tokaido series titled "The Fifty-three Pairs (or Parallels) for the Tokaido Road." The series featured images of historical figures, legends, and ghost stories associated with the different stations along this famous route. The series title appears in a black cartouche at upper right, with a narrative in an inset at left, and a scene illustrating the story below. An interesting take on the classic Tokaido series, these prints feature lively and animated designs of warriors and beauties or ghosts and spirits, instead of typical travelers, bringing the highway to life. A great choice for a collector interested in Japanese tales and legends.

Goyu: The Thatched Hut of Yamamoto Kansuke, circa 1845 - Handsome image of the famous samurai Yamamoto Kansuke, one of Takeda Shingen's trusted Twenty-four Generals, at a rustic hut in the countryside. He looks up with a frown as several men approach in the distance, startling a group of sparrows that takes flight. The gray-hairs woman at lower left gestures at the visitors with a mallet she has been using to beat cloth to soften it. A bubbling pot hangs over a floor hearth at lower right, a few arrows nearby and an armillary sphere behind it. Stars twinkle against the blue of the fan-shaped inset above. A great composition with the birds flying out of the image into the margins at left, adding a sense of dimension.

Artist - Kuniyoshi (1797 - 1861)

Image Size - 13 3/4" x 8 5/8" + margins as shown

Condition - This print with nice detail as shown. A few small repairs. Please see photos for details.