Ukiyoe Reproductions - landscapes

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Ando Hiroshige Autumn Moon on the Tama River from Eight Views in the neighbourhood of Edo (Tamagawa Shugetsu) Price A$160 (unframed)) Status New reproduction Condition Excellent Size 380mm x 247mm Availability For sale

Autumn Moon at Tama River. Full Moon above a willow tree and a distant view of the river. All the first prints of this series have each on the upper part of the plate an inscription of a poem of three or four verses. Besides, some of the prints bear outside the border a stamp styled Taihaido-Kaihan (Prints Inaugurated by Taihaido). Taihaido is the pen name of a famous poet who lived in those days. It appears that he and his fellow versifiers wanted to leave their productions to later generations by getting them inscribed on prints. For this purpose Taihaido ordered of Hiroshige the painting of the famous sights which they had chosen for the subjects of versification, and got the pictures specially printed by the Kikakudu to illustrate their poems. These were circulated among the versifiers concerned. It will thus be seen that a print entitled "Haneda no Rakugan" bears an inscription of a poem of one verse by Taihaido. It appears that because these prints were found exceedingly attractive the Kikakudo reprinted them by permission of Taihaido, leaving only one verse on each print and offered them to the general public. Those put on view in the exhibition belong to the later edition each with a single verse.

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