1797-1858
One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Silk-Goods Lane, Odenma-cho
(Meisho Edo hyakkei: Odenma-cho gofukudana)
signed Hiroshige ga with publisher's seal Uo-Ei (Uo-ya Eikichi), and date seal Uma-shichi (year of the horse [1857]), 7th month); with partial date and censor seals on top edge from remargin
oban tate-e 13 3/4 by 9 5/8 in., 35 by 24.5 cm
A depiction of a toryo-okuri ('sending off the master carpenter') procession of ranking carpenters following a ridgepole-raising ceremony upon the completion of a building outside the famous dry goods shop Daimaru in the district of Odenma-cho. The banners carried by the carpenters are associated with the Shinto ritual which would have been performed on the rooftop of a completed building. The leading figure carries a banner decorated with a mirror surrounded by three white fans decorated with the red circle symbolizing the rising sun, below is a woman's comb and a lock of hair among long colored streamers. He is followed by two men carrying giant hamaya ('exorcising arrows'). One is in the shape of kaburaya ('turnip arrow') whistling device which represented the yang ('male') arrow to be pointed northeast to the devil's gate. The other arrow has a karimata ('hunting point') associated with the ying ('female') and would have been pointed downwards to the southwest. Both would have been used on the rooftop slung through giant bows.
Reference:
Henry D. Smith II, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Illustrations by Hiroshige, George Braziller & Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1986, no. 74
(inv. no. 10-2319)
price: Sold