Ferry in Snow
- Date:
- Not set
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Snow and night scenes traditionally command higher prices. Key value factors: Edition order (first Watanabe/Doi printing vs. posthumous reprints) is crucial. Snow scenes, night views, and bijin-ga typically command premiums. Publisher seals and artist signatures authenticate first editions.
A ferry boat makes its way through falling snow in this woodblock print by Narazaki Eisho. River and harbor ferries were essential transportation in early 20th-century Japan, connecting communities separated by waterways that had no bridges. A snow-covered ferry scene combines two compelling visual elements: the horizontal movement of the boat against the vertical fall of snowflakes, creating a compositional cross-hatch of directional forces. The snow muffles sound and reduces visibility, shrinking the world to the immediate vicinity of the vessel and its passengers. Narazaki renders this intimate, weather-enclosed scene with the shin-hanga technique of layered printing, building up the snow through white or near-white pigment over a grey-blue background that suggests both sky and water. The ferry itself would appear as a dark, solid form anchoring the composition against the dissolving whiteness of the storm.
Woodblock print
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Yuki no Miyajima
1929
Color woodblock print; oban
1932
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Ferry in Snow was created by Narazaki Eisho (楢崎栄昌) in Not set.
Ferry in Snow depicts snow scenes and boats & ships.
