Picture of a Foreign Building in Yokohama, dated 1861

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

Typical Price

Later reprint (Meiji–Taisho era publishers): $50–$400
Good later impression (Edo-period): $1,000–$5,000
Good early impression (vivid color, fine bokashi): $5,000–$20,000
Fine early impression (exceptional color and condition): $20,000–$60,000

Hiroshige produced an estimated 8,000 designs over his 40-year career, making him one of the most prolific masters of ukiyo-e. His market has strengthened significantly in recent years, with the 2025 Sotheby's Paris record of $2.4M and growing international collector interest.

Description

This Yokohama print, dated 1861, depicts a Western-style building in the foreign settlement — one of the brick and plaster structures that were under rapid construction as European and American merchants established themselves after the opening of the port in 1859. The building's foreign architectural details — regular windows, columned facade — contrast with the Japanese landscape around it, a visual document of the transformation then underway.