#51 深川万年橋 Fukagawa mannenbashi (Mannen Bridge in Fukagawa)

Utagawa Hiroshige

1797–1858

#51 深川万年橋 Fukagawa mannenbashi (Mannen Bridge in Fukagawa), 1857, Edo period (1600–1868)

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: color woodcut

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 337 x 225 cm
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 132 11/16 x 88 9/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in

Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial

Accession number: 1928.7278

Not on display

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Label texts

Nature/Natural

In his One Hundred Famous Views of Edo series, Hiroshige introduced a new technique of composition with an enlarged framing element against a distant background. Here we see a turtle dangling from the handle of a wooden bucket. Through the beams of the bridge and the bucket we glimpse a busy canal. Mannen Bridge lay at the entrance to the canal in Fukagawa district where turtles were bred for sale for food or as pets. It was custom for the breeders of these turtles to offer their wares along well-traveled bridges where people could buy and release the turtles into the nearby river or canal on the hope of building up Buddhist merit. The turtle is also a symbol of longevity. By using the image of the turtle, Hiroshige creates a verbal play with the name of the bridge, Mannen, which means "10,000 years."

Nature/Natural

Archive Label date unknown: In his One Hundred Famous Views of Edo series, Hiroshige introduced a new technique of composition with an enlarged framing element against a distant background. Here we see a turtle dangling from the handle of a wooden bucket. Through the beams of the bridge and the bucket we glimpse a busy canal. Mannen Bridge lay at the entrance to the canal in Fukagawa district where turtles were bred for sale for food or as pets. It was custom for the breeders of these turtles to offer their wares along well-traveled bridges where people could buy and release the turtles into the nearby river or canal on the hope of building up Buddhist merit. The turtle is also a symbol of longevity. By using the image of the turtle, Hiroshige creates a verbal play with the name of the bridge, Mannen, which means "10,000 years.