Ryogoku hanabi (Fireworks, Ryogoku)

Details

UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
Ryogoku hanabi (Fireworks, Ryogoku)
Woodblock print, from the series Meisho Edo hyakkei (One hundred views of Edo), signed Hiroshige ga, published by Uoya Eikichi, 8th month 1858
Vertical oban: 14 x 9 5/8 in. (35.6 x 24.4 cm.)

Provenance

Sotheby's New York, 8 December 1988, lot 98

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Takaaki Murakami (村上高明) Vice President, Specialist and Head of Department | Korean Art

tmurakami@christies.com +1 212 636 2160

Lot Essay

The firework displays at the Ryogoku Bridge were among the most popular summer pleasures of Edo residents since 1733, when the first official fireworks were commissioned by the eighth Tokugawa Shogun, Yoshimune, to commemorate citizens who had died in a cholera epidemic. The memorial, including a display of fireworks, became an annual observance.

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