Shimadagahana sekiyo fuji
Series : One Hundred Views of Fuji, Fugaku Hyakkei.
Technique: nishikie, woodcuts in two shades of gray and one of pink.
Format: hanshinbon koban diptych (about 183x253 mm).
Signatures : Zen Hokusai Iitsu aratame Gakyorojin Manji.
Artist's seal : Fuji no Yama.
Dates : 1834-1836.
Engravers: Egawa Tomekichi and Tsentaro.
Publishers: Nishimura Yuzo, Eirakuya Toshiro.
Beautiful proof with good contrasts, in a fourth edition published by Tohikedo in 1852 with the characteristic pink tone. Printed on Japan paper, in excellent condition, with clean edges all around beyond the marginal line.
Bibliography:
Calza GC Hokusai, the old fool for painting , Milan 1999-2000, London, 2003.
Calza GC Hokusai, the hundred views of Fuji , Milan, 1982.
Dickins FV Fugaku hiyaku-kei: one hundred view of Fuji by Hokusai , London, 1880.
Forrer M. Hokusai, prints and drawings , London, 1991.
Hillier J. The art of Hokusai in book illustration , London, 1980.
Lane R. Hokusai, life and works , Milan, 1991.
Salamon Villa T., The hundred views of Fuji, Turin, 1975.
Smith II H. Hokusai: one hundred view of Fuji by Hokusai, London, 1988.
Shimadagahana, the Shimada wharf, would be identified by Suzuki in the area of the canals near Fugakawa but the pattern of the wave motion of the water would seem to exclude that it could be a view of a canal.
Smith points out how the Fuji drawn in black, to underline the advance of darkness, is the same as the one dotted in the plate Onmayagashi yori Ryobashi sekiyo o miru , a view of the sunset at the Ryobashi bridge, from the series Thirty-six views of Fuji , as well as the relaxed atmosphere of the characters depicted in both drawings, may suggest a common theme and, therefore, a depiction of the famous pier called Hyappongui , the hundred poles, near the Ryogoku bridge.
Probably this scene combines different views along the Sumida River, to create a generic water frame view of Mount Fuji.