Edo Firemen Demonstrating Ladder-climbing During Festival
- Date:
- 19th century
- Medium:
- Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 52.5 × 18.6 cm
- Source:
- Harvard Art Museums
Description
Edo's hikeshi (firefighters) performed spectacular acrobatic demonstrations on tall bamboo ladders during the New Year's season, a tradition called dezomeshiki that combined practical skill display with festive entertainment. Kuniyoshi documents the event with multiple figures posed at vertiginous heights on their ladders, the crowd visible below and the organized chaos of the performance captured in nishiki-e polychrome. The firemen's distinctive blue-and-white happi coats and their tattooed physiques were frequent subjects in Kuniyoshi's genre prints.
More Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Woman as the Hero Taisō in Palanquin Holding a Pipe
c. 1830
Woodblock print (surimono), ink and color on paper
Yan Qing (Roshi Ensei), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"
Poem by Abe no Nakamaro, from an untitled series of One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets
Hu Sanniang (Ko Sanjo Ichijosei), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"
More Summer Prints
Bull Festival at Koryuji
広隆寺牛祭
Woodblock print
February (The Annual Festival of the Fushimi Inari)
二月 (伏見稲荷大社祭)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
July (Gorgeous Procession of Yama-hoko or the Floats at the Gion Festival)
七月 (祇園祭山鉾巡行)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
August (The Bonfire Festival of the Daimonji Hill Viewed from the Sanjo Bridge)
八月 (三条大橋より大文字)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Frequently Asked Questions
Edo Firemen Demonstrating Ladder-climbing During Festival was created by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) in 19th century.
Edo Firemen Demonstrating Ladder-climbing During Festival depicts summer, set at Tokyo.
Edo Firemen Demonstrating Ladder-climbing During Festival measures 52.5 × 18.6 cm (Oban format).