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Hello,

I have a Hiroshige print that I would like to know more about. It was inherited to me by my father, along with a lot of other artworks.

All I know is what I'be been able to find online.
Most of my info came from here:
http://www.hiroshige.org.uk/hiroshige/tokaido_hoeido/tokaido_hoeido_05.htm

However I've noticed that my painting is on a crumpled type of paper and does not have the border seen in the one on the website.

Mine does appear to be very old but I'm not exactly sure from when?

I used my flatbed scanner to scan the painting.

Any help you can offer would be great appreciated.





Link :Hiroshige Museum page

Hello Richard.

You certainly have an interesting, and possibly old print, but it is not a #44 Yokkaichi from the original Hoeido series. It 100% matches the Utagawa Kunisada copy of the Hoeido series that was printed in the 1850s. It is either an original Kunisada with a straight line border, or a later reprint. You will have to research this and draw your own conclusions.

The wrinkled paper is a bit of a mystery. These prints were made on mulberry paper which is usually flat and thin, but perhaps your print was mounted using some sort of glue that shriveled the paper.

In any event, it's a cool piece that displays well.

FYI, here is a related piece from our own collection - #45 Ishiyakushi Station from the Tokaido Kyoka Edition printed in the late 1830s. You can see that our print has the notched corners and also full margins with censor seals.

Cheers

Doug

Doug,

Please provide a pointer to the Kunisada print you reference. I am unfamiliar with that series.

Cheers,
Stan

What you have is a Japanese woodblock print (not a painting). The paper has been crinkled and is called a crepe print. You have correctly identified the artist as Hiroshige I and the print is from the Hoeido edition of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô gojûsan tsugi no uchi).

Comparing your print closely with a known original at the Boston MFA, it is my opinion that it is not an original but a later reproduction. (Look at the number of blades of water grasses under the bridge.) The original was printed in the early 1830s but I can't say when yours was printed.

Cheers,
Stan

URL Title :How were crepe prints made?

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