Posted by John Fiorillo on June 28, 2001 at 03:41:47:
In Reply to: Please Help! Can you identify this Hiroshigi??? posted by Mike Healey on June 28, 2001 at 01:42:09:
Mike,
You have a design from one of Hiroshige I's various Tôkaidô series:
Series: Tôkaidô gojûsan tsuji no uchi (Fifty-three stations of the Eastern Sea Road)
Station: No. 7 (Fujisawa)
Publisher: Tsutaya Kichizô
Censors: Hama Yahei and Kinugasa Fusajirô
Format: Chûban
Date: Circa 1847-53
The series was carved on 27 ôban-size blocks with 2 stations per block. Most surviving impressions have long since been cut in half and separated into single chûban-size sheets, as in your print. To obtain the complete (and odd-numbered) 55 stations, one of the half-block designs combined two stations (Shimada and Kameya)
The characters for the first part of the series title (Tôkaidô) appear in the red cartouche at the upper right, as does the station number (in your case, no. 7). The remainder of the series title (gojûsan tsuji no uchi) appears within the image area at the upper center (right-hand part), with the station name (Fujisawa) alongside on the left.
John