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Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Barn Swallows and Peach Blossoms under Full Moon (Tsukiyo momo ni tsubame)

Maker

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797-1858, b. in Edo, Japan)
Wakasaya Yoichi 若狭屋与市 (Japanese, 1794 - 1846), publisher

Title

Barn Swallows and Peach Blossoms under Full Moon (Tsukiyo momo ni tsubame)

Period

Edo Period

Year

early 1830s

Medium

Polychrome wood block print

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Polychrome wood block print

Materials

ink, color

Supports

paper

Geography

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Edo (location)

Dimensions

Image: 36.2 x 18.1 cm (14 1/4 x 7 1/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signature: Signed at left | Hiroshige hitsu

Inscription verso top right: 15.22; in a later hand: 1712; in a another hand inscribed verso, bottom right: [M].222

Chinese poem:
Spring has come and/peach blossoms float in all the streams/how impossible to determine where utopia is

Seals: Artist's seal | Ichiryûsai; publisher's seal | Wakasaya Yoichi (Waka); censor's seal | kiwame; two seals that appear to the left of the poem may belong to the poet or may be an allusion to the poem | possible reading "Un Shin"

Identification

State

This appears to be the first state of the print with publisher's mark and kiwame mark (see Bogel) and among the finest known impressions. A later state lacks these seals and does not have pink and black branches, rather branches all black. The breasts of the birds are also printed in pink, not black. A third state has less crisp printing and the publisher's mark of Sanoya Kihei (Kikakudô).

Credit / Object Number