#41. Aoizaka

Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Source:: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

Typical Price

Later reprint (Meiji–Taisho era publishers): $100–$600
Good later impression (Edo-period, worn blocks): $3,000–$12,000
Good early impression (vivid bokashi, crisp key lines): $12,000–$40,000
Fine early impression (exceptional color freshness and condition): $40,000–$100,000

From Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (1856–58), a 118-print series of vertical oban landscapes and genre scenes that defined the visual image of Edo for generations. A complete set sold for $405,400 at Sotheby's Online Jul 2024.

Description

Aoizaka — "Hollyhock Slope" — was a steep incline in the Ushigome district of western Edo, named for the Tokugawa family crest of three hollyhock leaves. Edo's hilly western districts were crisscrossed with such named slopes, each with its own history and associations. This numbered Edo view captures the street scene at this named slope, one of the topographic features that gave the city's western quarters their character.