Edo Period Ukiyo-e Armor/Tango no Sekku (Utagawa Hiroshige)

Edo Period Ukiyo-e Armor Tango no Sekku

This is a work by the second-generation Utagawa Hiroshige. The piece is mounted in a simple A4-sized acrylic panel with a wooden frame. It is marked with the third year of Bunkyu (1863), but it may be a later print from the late Edo period. A disciple of the first-generation Utagawa Hiroshige, his surname was originally Suzuki, later changed to Morita, and his given name was Shinpe. He used the art names Ichiyusai, Ichiryusai, Ryusai, Ryusho, and Kisai. During the Koka era, he became a pupil of the first-generation Hiroshige, initially known as Shigenobu. He created bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women), kacho-ga (bird-and-flower paintings), and musha-e (warrior prints), and later began to paint landscapes, gradually approaching the creative domain of the first generation. In Ansei 5 (1858), the first-generation Hiroshige passed away, and the following year, in Ansei 6, he became the son-in-law of Hiroshige's adopted daughter Tatsu, inheriting the name of the second-generation Hiroshige. In the first year of Keio (1865), due to a 20-year age difference, the couple quarreled and separated, after which he reverted to the Morita surname. He moved to Yokohama, using the art name Kisai Ryusho, and created label paintings for export tea boxes, known as "Chabako Hiroshige." In December of Ansei 6 (1859), he boldly featured the golden carp on the keep of Nagoya Castle under the moonlight in the "Famous Views of Various Provinces: True View of Nagoya in Owari Province." He participated in the first-generation Hiroshige's late series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo," signing "Second-generation Hiroshige" on the "Evening Scene of Rain at Akasaka Kiribatake" among the 120 prints. He left Yokohama-e and Kaika-e with the signature "Ryusho." In his hand-painted works, he is known for the "Yujo" (courtesan) paintings created during the Ansei period, signed "Shigenobu hitsu" with a vermilion square seal of "Shigenobu." He passed away on September 17, Meiji 2 (1869), at the age of 44.