Edo, the former name of Tokyo during the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868), provides the thematic focus for this etching. Stewart may be engaging with Edo-period visual culture — its architectural forms, its material objects, or its graphic traditions — rather than depicting a specific location, since modern Tokyo bears little visible resemblance to the pre-Meiji city. The print may feature period objects such as lacquerware, folded textiles, writing implements, or ceramic vessels associated with Edo merchant culture, rendered in a still-life arrangement. Alternatively, it could reference Edo-period woodblock print compositions, positioning Stewart's intaglio work in dialogue with the [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) tradition. Working in Kyoto, the cultural counterweight to Edo throughout the same period, Stewart occupies a vantage point from which the historical contrast between the two cities carries particular resonance.
Edo was created by Joel Stewart.
Edo uses Etching and Lithograph, on etching.
Edo depicts still life.
