Fifty-three Post-stations of the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô
go-jû-san tsugi, 東海道五十三次)
Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke
1860
In this series, the lower sections are by Kuniyoshi, but the upper sections are signed by Kuniyoshi’s student Hirokage (一勇斎 広景 画). This series is listed as No. 224 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961). The prints are about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.
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Post-station: Goyû (御油) |
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Post-Station: Mishima (三島) |
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Post-station: Kanagawa (神奈川) NOTE: This is a key block print from this series. It is an impression pulled from the first
woodblock made by a carver from the artist’s original drawing. The artist would write instructions for
each color on a separate key block print, and the woodblock for each color
was cut using one of these as a guide.
Registration marks (kento)
are found in the right lower corner and on the right side. Kento
are cut in each woodblock, so that the paper can be properly aligned on each
woodblock during printing. In
addition to being a guide for carving the color woodblocks, the key block was
also used to apply black ink (usually) in the printing process. |
No image available |
Post-station: Shinagawa (品川) NOTE: This is the only other print, in this series, known to exist. |
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