The image is from an extended series of prints entitled Edo Miyage (Souvenirs of Edo), designed (nominally) by Hiroshige. I include the 'nominally' for the usual reason - his name is there on the prints, but going by the rather low quality of design, one wonders just how much he was actually involved with their production.

We have to remember though, that the point wasn't to make great 'art', but simply to supply people with a souvenir of a trip to a famous place, so I suppose I shouldn't be too critical. There must have been steady demand for prints of this type, and I imagine that they sold for quite reasonable prices at the time.

I have quite a few of the prints from this series, and although I could never consider using most of them for my work, there are a few that 'make the grade'. This one depicts Fudo no Taki (Fudo Waterfall) in the Oji area, and even with its clumsy little 'stick' figures and rudimentary depiction of foliage provides such a fascinating snapshot of Edo period life that I couldn't resist including it in this Treasure Chest set.

Who are those people under the waterfall? Would he be a servant, scrubbing her back? But would an upper-class woman do this outdoors in public with people looking on? Or is it more probably a shitamachi couple, who would presumably be less concerned about such things? Or perhaps I'm on the wrong track entirely, and he is a religious attendant, and this is some type of ritual being performed under the falling water.

I sure wish there were some falls like this near me!

David
Monday, July 18, 2005

(Here's the print in context in the Treasure Chest series.)