Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) / Toyokuni III (三代豊国) (artist 1786 – 01/12/1865)
View of Odawara (Odawara no zu: 小田原之図) from the chuban series Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road (Tōkaidō gojūsan tsugi no uchi: 東海道五十三次之内)
ca 1838
Signed: ōju Kōchōrō Kunisada (応需香蝶楼国貞)
Publisher: Sanoya Kihei
Censor's seal: kiwame
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
National Diet Library - published by both Moriya Jihei and Sanoya Kihei
British Museum - Hiroshige's 'Odawara Sakawagawa' version
Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna
Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art - they date their copy to 1836
Bryn Mawr
Honolulu Museum of Art - published by Moriya Jihei This is number ten in the series. The curatorial files of the Museum für angewandte Kunst in Vienna say: "When it comes to depicting the landscape, Kunisada again largely stuck to Hiroshige's original. Some changes in the people and in the course of the river. In the foreground is a woman in a green polka dot kimono with dyed maple leaves. She has a coat of arms (mon) on her shoulders and sleeves. Undergarment in shibori technique 絞 り 染 め, the belt (obi) striped. Next to her, food is served the Chinese way: a large, low tripod table with large bowls and bowls of the prepared food on it."
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In Tokaido Landscapes: The Path from Hiroshige to Contemporary Artists, 2011, #10, p. 22, speaking of the original Hiroshige print it says in a text by Sasaki Moritoshi: "The Sakawa River lays to the east of the station. People were carried across on litters or on the shoulders of porters. From October to February, when the water was low, travelers traversed the river over makeshift bridges. This print depicts the ford from an elevated angle. The porters and travelers are rendered small but they are nonetheless vivid and enchanting. The river creates a beautiful band across the print. In the distance on the far shore are Odawara Castle and the rooflines of the castle town. Beyond lie the rugged mountains of Hakone, suggesting the difficult passage that awaits after spending a night in Odawara."
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In Masterworks of Ukiyo-e: Hiroshige, the 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō by Muneshige Narazaki. 1969, p. 38 notes that the area of Odawara was once part of the Hōjō domain, but that it was transferred to the Ōkubo in 1590. It is their castle which is seen in the background.
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Illustrated in a small color reproduction in Kunisada's Tokaido: Riddles in Japanese Woodblock Prints by Andreas Marks, Hotei Publishing, 2013, page 64, T24-10.
Sanoya Kihei (佐野屋喜兵衛) (publisher)
landscape prints (fūkeiga 風景画) (author)