Collections: Asian Art: Komakata Hall and Azuma Bridge, No. 62 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

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Komakata Hall and Azuma Bridge, No. 62 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

• Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando), Japanese, 1797-1858
• Medium: Woodblock print
• Place Found: Japan
• Dates: 1st month of 1857
• Period: Edo Period, Ansei Era
• Dimensions: 14 1/4 x 9 3/16in. (36.2 x 23.3cm) Sheet: 14 1/4 x 9 3/16 in. (36.2 x 23.3 cm) Image: 13 1/2 x 9 in. (34.3 x 22.9 cm)
• Collections: Asian Art
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 30.1478.62
• Credit Line: Gift of Anna Ferris
• Image: Overall, 30.1478.62_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006
Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando) (Japanese, 1797-1858). Komakata Hall and Azuma Bridge, No. 62 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 1st month of 1857. Woodblock print, 14 1/4 x 9 3/16in. (36.2 x 23.3cm) Sheet: 14 1/4 x 9 3/16 in. (36.2 x 23.3 cm) Image: 13 1/2 x 9 in. (34.3 x 22.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Anna Ferris, 30.1478.62 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 30.1478.62_PS1.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: This view looks west across the Sumida River to the Honjo district. There is a partial view of the Azuma Bridge at the far left. The square temple building in the lower left corner is Komakata Hall, which contained an image of Kannon crowned with a horse's head (Bato Kannon). Komakata Hall has since been rebuilt and is presently about seventy yards north from its earlier Edo location. At the site of the red flag is a cosmetics dealer, "Hyakusuke;" the red flag represents rouge. Above, a small cuckoo (hototogisu) passes through the city on its way to its mountain habitat; cuckoos were known for their sharp cry, "likened to the tearing of cloth," associated in poetry with dawn and loneliness (H. Smith, 1986). The artist's portrayal of the hototogisu above Komakata Hall would bring to mind a famous love poem composed by the celebrated Takao of the Yoshiwara. This scene depicts the rainy season, June to July, shown here in the blue-gray pattern of the wood grain, wisps of clouds, and the streaks of rain, printed in glinting mica.