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A rare triptych showing three bijin on the beach at Enoshima with title: Enoshima Benzaiten kaicho nagisa, which implies they are there to venerate Benten ( one of the Seven Lucky Gods ) whose shrine is at Enoshima. Published by Yamadaya Shobei, c1849.

Very good impression and colour. Slight creases. Small edge repair, otherwise good condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Night snow at Kambara from the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido. The set published by Hoeido and Senkakudo c1833-4. Together with Shono, the masterpice from the set and widely reproduced.

Good to very good impression with the red seals still crisp. Very good colour. Very slight centre fold only perceptible top and bottom otherwise very good condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Saijo in Iyo Province from the Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces. Published by Koshimuraya Heisuke, Hare 9 ( 1855 ). First edition.

Superb impression of first edition. Perfect colour. Light album backing and two small blue spots, otherwise fine condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Kwannon Temple, Abumon in Bingo Province from the Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces. Published by Koshimuraya Heisuke, Ox 12 ( 1853 ). A variant first edition to Pulverer copy. One of the most beautiful designs from the set.

Superb impression. Fine colour and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Kameyama, yuki-bari, ‘Clear Weather after Snow’ from the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido. The set published by Hoeido and Senkakudo in 1834. This is the rare first state: before the blue sky block was replaced with another.

Fine impression. Remargined on three sides but with black border intact. Otherwise very good condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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A triptych, ‘Moon’, from a series of ‘Snow, Moon, Flower’. ( The screen?s half-moon shape here representing the moon. ) Another nice touch are the shadows cast by the figures. Published by Dansendo 1848. One of Hiroshige’s best triptych designs.

Extremely good early impression; fine colour. Full size. Very good condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Heavy wind and rain in Yamabushidani, Mimasaka Province from the Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces. Published by Koshimuraya Heisuke and dated Ox 12 (1853). The best design after the Whirlpool at Naruto. The very rare first edition.

Very fine impression; fine colour. Minor backed edge wormage, otherwise fine condition. After this first edition there are numerous variant states. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Evening snow , Asukayama from the set: Eight Views of the Suburbs of Edo. Published by Kikakudo c 1837-8. One of Hiroshige’s earliest and finest sets. The first private issue of these prints (for the poet Taihaido) had three poems. This state has two. Extremely rare.

Fine impression and colour. Slight centre fold and trimmed close. Extensive splashed gofun. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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The Whirlpool at Naruto, Awa Province, from the Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces. Published by Koshimuraya Heisuke and dated Hare 9 (1855). The best design from the set.

Very good impression; good colour. Minor discoloration, otherwise very good condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Heavy snow with geisha in front of the torii in the Gion district of Kyoto. From the fine early set of ten prints: Famous Places in Kyoto, published by Eisendo c1835. The first edition of this set has the publisher’s mark and kiwame seal in blue in right margin. (There are also two first edition states of this design – one with gradation on the roofs. the other without. See Suzuki, Utagawa Hiroshige, nos 106/7.) This impression, although the second edition, is still much sought after and rare.

Very good impression and colour. Faint centre fold, otherwise fine condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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A mist scene showing Oyashiro Shinto Temple, Izumo Province from the Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces. Published by Koshimuraya Heisuke and dated Ox12 (1853)

Good impression; very good colour. Minor marks on bottom margin, otherwise very good condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Hira no bosetsu, ‘Evening Snow on Mount Hira’ from the first Omi Hakkei set published by Eisendo and Hoeido, c1834. One of Hiroshige’s best designs.

Fine early impression with the mountain printed. Fine gradation and colour. On full size totally untrimmed paper. Near perfect condition. ( Later editions add green to the colour scheme: See E F Strange, Hiroshige, Cassell & Co, 1925, colour pl. op.p.172. ) Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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The great lantern at the Kinryuzan Temple, Asakusa, in snow. Asakusa Kinryuzan from The Hundred Views of Edo, Meisho Edo hyakkei. The set published by Uoya Eikichi with this design dated Ansei lll/7 (1856). This is the exceptionally rare first edition. The best way of discerning this (apart, obviously, from the quality of impression) is that only the first edition uses the vegetable pigment beni on the lantern and on the door to the left: All subsequent editions mixed in red lead to give a brighter colour (which usually oxidizes). (The temple still stands and looks not unlike Hiroshige’s depiction.)

Fine impression and colour, with mica added. Very small expertly repaired wormage bottom right margin otherwise fine. Seals intact. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Beauties and snow on the Sumida River. The winter scene from a set of four triptychs of famous places in the four seasons. Published by Marujin, 1848-49. Considered to be Hiroshige’s finest design in this genre. Illustrated on covers of Eight Hundred Years Of Japanese Printmaking, Museum Of Art Carnegie Institute, 1977.

Very good impression with perfect colour, Full size and matching. Original backing sheets, Fine condition. Signed Hiroshige ga. (There were some cracks in the blocks for this design and they appear on every known impression.)

Status: Sold

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Tsuchiyama from The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido. The set published 1833-34 by Takenouchi Magohachi and Tsuruya Kiemon, Shows a daimyo’s procession crossing a stream in heavy rain.

Very good early impression. Very good colour, Small paper flaw near left edge otherwise very good condition,. Signed Hiroshige ga

Status: Sold

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Kambara, Station 16, from The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido, generally known as the Reisho Tokaido. Published c1850-51 by Maruya Seijiro.

Extremely fine first edition with the deluxe red pigment in cartouche. Fine colour and condition with extra paper on right for publisher’s seal. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Hakone tochiba no zue, “Hakone Spa” from the set Honcho Meisho, “Views of Our Homeland”. An excessively rare set published by Fujihiko, c mid 1830s. I have never noted another impression of this design for sale. The complete set, which contains some of Hiroshige’s rarest masterpieces, is illustrated in Utagawa Hiroshige, Juzo Suzuki, nos 438 – 452.

Fine impression, colour and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Aki, Itsukushima Sairei-no zu. Aki is the old name for Hiroshima. The beautiful Torii of Itsukushima Shrine at Miyajima is considered to be one of the three best views in Japan. Published Ox12 (1853) by Koshimuraya Heisuke from the Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces.

Fine, very early impression. Fine coloured and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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The Urami Falls, Mt. Nikko, Shimotsuke Province, Shimotsuke, Nikkosan Urami no taki from the Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces. Published Ox 8 (1853) by Koshimuraya Heisuke.

Fine, very early impression but not the earliest of all (see Pulverer impression). However, this is one of those cases where the earliest is not the preferred state: The Pulverer copy has the waterfall printed solid blue whereas this impression has the water blind-printed and the gradation on the side making for a more beautiful composition. Fine colour. Minor soil, otherwise very good condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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The temple compound if the Akiba Shrine, Ukiji, Ukiji Akiba no keidai, from The Hundred Views of Famous Spots in Edo. Published Snake 8 (1857) by Uoya Eikichi.

Fine impression and colour. Minor mark au verso left margin, otherwise fine condition. This is the earliest edition with the break in the character “eight” in the date seal top margin. The figure sketching on the verandah, bottom left, is supposed to be Hiroshige. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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The beach of the Dancing Girl in Harima Province from Rokuju-yo shu meisho zue, “Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces”. The set published by Koshihei between 1853-1856.

Very good early impression showing strong woodgrain. Fine colour and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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A chuban triptych showing three beauties relaxing at Takanawa from a set of Eight Views of Edo. Published by Joshuya Kinzo c.1849-50. (Tamba no.146.)

Very good impression, colour and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Hyuga Province, Yudzu-no Minato from Rokuju yoshu meisho zu, “Famous Places in the sixty-Odd Provinces.” The set published by Koshimuraya Heisuke between 7/1853 and 3/1856 (this being 1856). Shows tea houses looking out over the bay.This is the extremely rare first edition.

Superb impression of the earliest state with beautiful bokashi and woodgrain showing on all blocks. Fine colour and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Oi, a suburb of present day Ena City, is in the southern foothills of the central mountain range now known as the Japan Alps. Shows a group of travellers heavily protected against the snow and cold. From Kisokaido rokujukyutsugi no uchi, “Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido.” The set of seventy prints was started by Eisen and published by Hoeido in 1835, but in 1837 Hiroshige took over and completed the series with the publisher Iseya Rihei ( Kinjudo ). One of Hiroshige’s most famous designs.

Very good impression. The earliest impressions have gradation on the Kiso range in the background and in the sky. Some versions are also known with splashed gofun. Very slight centre fold. Very good colour. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

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Nagakubo, one of the major designs from Kisokaido rokujukyutsugi no uchi, “Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido.” The set of seventy prints was started by Eisen and published by Hoeido in 1835, but in 1837 Hiroshige took over and completed the series with the publisher Iseya Rihei ( Kinjudo ). Shows travellers near and on the Wada Bridge over the Yodo River. As with most important compositions from the set, there are numerous states where the printers/publishers experimented with alternative wipings to alter the design: On some impressions the far mountains are not seen; on others they are graded-off to the right. The far rail on the bridge comes and goes and the blue gradation on the river varies. The earliest state appears to omit the mountains and have bokashi around the moon. ( Late editions also omit the mountains. )

Very good early impression with extra bokashi across the moon. Remargined on the two vertical sides, otherwise very good condition. Very good colour. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold

Shionada from Kisokaido rokujukyutsugi no uchi, “Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido.” The set of seventy prints was started by Eisen and published by Hoeido in 1835, but in 1837 Hiroshige took over and completed the series with the publisher Iseya Rihei (Kinjudo). Shows boatmen and river porters in the early morning waiting for trade on the banks of the Chikuma River. The river was broad here and the ferry did not always cross. The porters would be engaged to take travellers across on platforms or even on their backs.

Fine and extremely early impression. The corner of the publisher’s seal always shows broken off, even on the earliest impressions. Fine colour. Left border trimmed, otherwise fine condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.

Status: Sold