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Hi,
I try to find out whether this is an authentic hiroshige print and when the print was published.
Any help appreciated!
regards
kd

The series title (rectangular cartouche)reads "Ômi hakkei" ("Eight views of Ômi" (province). The view written in the square cartouche, is "Mii no banshô" ("Evening bell at Mii"). Hiroshige designed several other "Ômi hakkei" series and other 'hakkei'("eight views") series which were a very popular subject for landscape prints in the late Edo period.
I spot no publisher's seal. The censor's seal at the top of the design is probably an individual 'nanushi' censor's seal, used during the period 1843-46.
The condition of your print is unfortunally problematic because of the margin trimming and the tape on the back side.

Guy.

Guy (and KD),

The censor's seal doesn't look like any of the known nanushi seals, and the right half is obviously a date mark: the second month of the year of the goat. So though the left half doesn't look quite like the usual seal script "aratame" character, the seal is most probably a combined aratame and date seal from either 1859 or 1871. My guess would be 1859, which means that the print was probably designed by Hiroshige II - unless it's a posthumously published design by Hiroshige I (who died in the ninth month of 1858). I haven't been able to find any information on the series, though.

Best regards,
Hans Olof

Thank you both for your help!
I can´t figure out which is which either, I would tend to think it is rather hiroshige II. I tried to find another corresponding print on the net, but so far without success. Nonetheless I learned quite a bit during this research.
kind regards
kd

Hans Olof,

You are entirely correct (as usual). I was already suspicious about my own statement. The MFA Boston has some prints of this series by Hiroshige II, published by Fujiokaya Keijirô (Shôrindô) in Ansei 6, 2nd month (1859/2). See the link of the MFA and zoom the image to get a close up of the censor's seal - it matches. The publisher's mark in the margin seems to be trimmed off in kd's print.

Guy.

URL Title :Hiroshige II - Ômi hakkei series (1859)

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