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Robe-Hanging Pine, Senzoku Pond, No. 110 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

Utagawa Hiroshige

Asian Art

The Robe-Hanging Pine of the title, which we see at the tip of a small spit of land jutting into Senzoku Pond, still survives. Legend associates it with the great medieval Buddhist leader Nichiren, who supposedly stopped by the pond to rest and used the tree to hang his kesa, a sashlike garment worn by Buddhist priests.

MEDIUM Woodblock print
  • Place Made: Japan
  • DATES 2nd month of 1856
    PERIOD Edo Period, Ansei Era
    DIMENSIONS Sheet: 14 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (36 x 23.5 cm) Image: 13 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. (34 x 22.2 cm)  (show scale)
    MARKINGS No publisher's seal visible, probably lost when left margin was trimmed. Seals in top margin: date seal and censor seal.
    SIGNATURE Hiroshige-ga
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 30.1478.110
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Anna Ferris
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION This is one of the earliest prints in the series. Senzoku Pond was located in a hilly area in what is now the northern part of Ota Ward. Senzoku Hachiman Shrine, which still survives, is in the grove of trees on the far side of the pond. According to legend, Nichiren, the Buddhist priest, once stopped by Senzoku Pond to rest and hung his kesa (a sashlike garment) on a nearby pine. The Robe-Hanging Pine of the title (at the center) survives today, but there is some dispute as to whether it is the third- or fourth-generation offspring of the tree of Nichiren's day. When Miyao Shigeo visited the pond in the early 1960's, he was told that Senzoku should be written with the characters for "one thousand feet," referring to the legend of the giant insect that Nichiren converted into the protector of the pond.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-1858). Robe-Hanging Pine, Senzoku Pond, No. 110 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 2nd month of 1856. Woodblock print, Sheet: 14 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (36 x 23.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Anna Ferris, 30.1478.110 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 30.1478.110_PS20.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 30.1478.110_PS20.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2023
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