Sugatami Bridge, Omokage Bridge and Gravel Pit at Takata (Takata Sugataminohashi Omokagenohashi jariba), Number 116 from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)

Sugatami Bridge, Omokage Bridge and Gravel Pit at Takata (Takata Sugataminohashi Omokagenohashi jariba), Number 116 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei), dated 1857, brings Utagawa Hiroshige's late masterwork to the rural fringe of the city. Takata, in the western Edo suburbs, was crossed by the small Kanda River and its bridges, the Sugatami-no-hashi and Omokage-no-hashi, both associated with poetic legends of self-reflection and memory in their names. A nearby gravel pit, jariba, marked the working economy of the district. Hiroshige's design uses the vertical oban format and a high vantage to gather all three features into a single composition: bridges cross a green tree-lined stream, the gravel pit opens up below with workers and tools, and distant fields recede toward the horizon. The print is one of the more topographically specific in the Hundred Famous Views, treating ordinary working geography with the same dignity as the more celebrated landmarks of the series. As an Edo ukiyo-e landscape print, it represents the late Hiroshige's interest in the city's hinterland and labor economy. The Harvard Art Museums impression preserves the rich greens and ochre tones that distinguish strong early states.