#43. Sannogongen

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

Sanno Gongen — the Hie Shrine in the Akasaka district — was one of the two most important Shinto shrines in Edo, its Sanno Matsuri festival alternating with Kanda Myojin's festival as the city's grandest annual celebration. The shrine stood on the hillside above the western moat of the castle, its great cedar trees and stone stairways making it one of the most imposing sacred precincts in the capital.