Object numberX.188
Asakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival
Portfolio/Seriesfrom the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
Date1857
Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川 広重)
(Japanese, 1797-1858)
Publisher
Uoya Eikichi
CultureJapanese
MediumWoodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
DimensionsSheet: 14 5/16 x 9 7/16 in. (36.3 x 24 cm)
Image: 13 1/4 x 8 7/8 in. (33.7 x 22.5 cm)
Matted: 22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 cm)
Image: 13 1/4 x 8 7/8 in. (33.7 x 22.5 cm)
Matted: 22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 cm)
Period19th c (Edo period)
Classification(s)
SignedOn recto, lower right, signed in block: 広重画 (Hiroshige ga)
InscribedOn recto, upper right, in block: 名所江戸百景 浅草田甫 酉の町詣 (One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei) Asakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival (Asakusa tanbo Torinomachi mōde)
MarkingsOn recto, upper right censor's seal in block in margin: 改 (aratame; approved)
On recto, upper right, censor's seal date in block in margin: 巳十一 (Snake 11)
On recto, lower left, publisher's seal in block in margin: 魚屋栄吉 (Uoya Eikichi)
BibliographyCenturies of Change: 18th to 20th Century Prints, Selections from the Permanent Collection, (Poughkeepsie: FLLAC, 1989)Vassar Exhibitions
Exhibition HistoryPoughkeepsie, NY, FLLAC, Vassar College, "Centuries of Change: 18th to 20th Century Japanese Prints, Selections from the Permanent Collection," March 20 - May 8, 1989Label TextComposed to conform to government restrictions on artistic subject matter, Utagawa Hiroshige’s Asakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival partially reveals the physical and mental barriers of the Yoshiwara, the highly regulated red-light district. A lone white cat looks westward from a barred window over the neighboring fields. By orienting the viewer’s gaze to the west, Hiroshige has subtly indicated the scene’s location in the pleasure district, while the cat serves as a visual surrogate for a prostitute. Utagawa Hiroshige II’s The Eastern Capital: List of Places in the Yoshiwara, a reproduction on view nearby, presents a bird’s-eye view of the New Yoshiwara that captures the borders of the district.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge.
To help improve this record, please email
loebcollections@vassar.edu
![[Blue Bird and Yellow Hibiscus]](/internal/media/dispatcher/3984/thumbnail)
![[Two Ducks]](/internal/media/dispatcher/3986/thumbnail)
![[Mandarin Ducks and Nandina in Snow]](/internal/media/dispatcher/3980/thumbnail)
