Ochanomizu / Edo Meisho zue

Rivers & Lakes

Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Source:: British Museum

Typical Price

Later reprint (Meiji–Taisho era publishers): $50–$400
Good later impression (Edo-period): $1,500–$6,000
Good early impression (vivid color and detail): $6,000–$25,000
Fine early impression (exceptional condition and freshness): $25,000–$70,000

Hiroshige's images of Edo life—temples, bridges, markets, and seasonal celebrations—are valuable historical documents as well as masterpieces of design. His depictions of the city he loved made him the preeminent chronicler of Edo culture in prints.

Description

Ochanomizu — "Tea Water Gulch" — was a district in central Edo where fresh water was once drawn for the shogun's tea ceremony. By the Edo period it had become a picturesque canal cut through high bluffs, lined with cherry trees and overlooked by the Yushima Seido Confucian temple. Hiroshige's view, from the "Edo Meisho Zue" series, captures the deep-cut channel with boats passing below steep forested banks.