Tokaido Meisho Zue ( Guide of famous places of Tokaido...

“Tokaido Meisho Zue” (Road of the East Seas) is a fabulous work, by one of the masters of Nishiki-e (Color woodblock) Utagawa Yoshitora (1835-1882). Published near the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, it celebrates one of the regime's paramount achievements and its famous places along the route. Oriented toward the west, the view covers the Tokaido between Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto. It is a perspective designed to include all the famous sites along the Tokaido—cities, mountains, waterways, castles, temples, teahouses. These sites include the famous 53 stations (usually, but not always, marked with yellow boxes). Mount Fuji stands prominently at center-right. Edo sits in the foreground at right, with Nihonbashi and Kyobashi clearly labeled and with Edo Castle, residence of the Shogun, appearing at the extreme right of the print. Across the landscape, human figures are engaged in a great variety of activities. The Tokaido itself is packed with samurai, servants, etc. At left, within the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, advisors and servants to the Emperor, including Kuge court nobles, can be seen wearing traditional robes. The 11 plates have been brought together on a scroll, mounted on thin Japanese paper, on the two extremities—a silk patterned fabric—and also along the perimeter, all rolled on a wooden cylinder with the two tips in bone. The scroll is 3m30 when fully opened (2m70 when only the plates are displayed). Each plate measures 36.5 x 25 cm (the scroll is 39.5 cm high). The work was created in 1864 (Edo Era). The author's stamps and signatures are present. Overall in very good condition, a small imperfection on the last plate at the top left corner (photo), a small stain on the same plate. Exceptionally, there is the original tomobako (wood box) with title in kanji (made of paulownia wood), kept in excellent condition (a few marks on the face and scuffs at the back).

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