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No. 35, Plum-blossom Viewing at Azuma-no-mori (Azuma-no-mori umemi), from the series Comical Views of Famous Places in Edo (Edo meisho dôke zukushi)


「江戸名所道化尽 三十五 吾嬬の森梅見」
Utagawa Hirokage (Japanese, active 1855–1865)
Publisher: Tsujiokaya Bunsuke (Kinshōdō) (Japanese)
Japanese
Edo period
1859 (Ansei 6), 11th month

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper\
Dimensions Vertical ôban; 37.4 x 25.2 cm (14 3/4 x 9 15/16 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.16926
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints
Flower-viewing excursions could (and sometimes still do) become raucous affairs if sake was consumed as part of the celebration. In this scene from a series showing comical events at various places in Edo, a capering dancer, who seems to have indulged heavily already, bumps into a couple who are just arriving at the scenic grounds of the Azuma-no-mori shrine. He accidentally breaks the gourd of sake that the unfortunate pair had brought for themselves.

DescriptionMFA impressions: 11.16926, 11.45389.4, *11.45390.33 (deaccessioned in 2019)
Signed Hirokage ga
広景画
Marks Censor's seal: Goat 11 aratame
No blockcutter's mark
改印:未十一改
彫師:なし
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 - d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: August 3, 1911)

NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.