Pedlars
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- wbp
Description
Pedlars presents the itinerant vendors who traveled through neighborhoods selling their goods directly to customers — a form of commerce fundamental to Edo and early Meiji urban life, before the establishment of fixed retail shops. The pedlar's distinctive calls, adapted to their specific merchandise, were as much a part of the urban soundscape as temple bells, and each type of pedlar had their own characteristic costume, carrying equipment, and seasonal patterns of appearance. Mori's rendering would have documented this figure with the same social attention he brought to all the traditional trades that were disappearing from Japanese streets during his long career.
More Prints by Yoshitoshi Mori
More Urban Scenes Prints
A Hundred Shades of Ink of Edo: Kiyonaga's Pipe (Edo zumi hyaku shoku: Kiyonaga no kiseru)
Woodblock print
View of Kabuki Theater from Matsuya (Ginza Matsuya yori Kabukiza), no. 3 from the series "Pictures of Ginza, First Series (Gashu Ginza dai isshu)"
1928
Color lithograph
Distant View of Mitsukoshi Movie Theater in Shinjuku from the Sixth Floor of Hoteiya (Hoteiya rokkai kara Shinjuku Mitsukoshi Musashi no kan enbo zu), no. 1 from the series "Scenery of Shinjuku (Gashu Shinjuku fukei)"
1930
Color lithograph
Spring Dusk at the Tōshō Shrine in Ueno
1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pedlars was created by Yoshitoshi Mori (森義利).
Pedlars depicts urban scenes, market scenes, and daily life.