Bells of the Asakusa Monastery (Asakusadera no kane)

The sheet comes from the series “Eight Views of the Sumida River in Fans” (Ōgiawase Sumidagawa hakkei). A classic theme of Chinese ink painting, Eight Views of Hsiao and Hsiang was introduced into the ukiyo-e genre in the 18th century. The series Eight Views from the Ōmi Province, Eight Celebrated Landscapes, Eight Views of Edo etc. were done in this genre. The firmly established themes of these paintings are also inscribed in the background of this series, forming subtitles for the individual scenes from the Sumida River surroundings, as can be seen in the background of the fan-shaped cartouches. They also refer to the figure of the beauty in the foreground of the picture. The compositional connection between the two separate scenes and the excellent technical quality of the sheets are remarkable. The series comes from the Joe Hloucha Collection, and its publisher was Izumiya Ichibei. (See Helena Honcoopová, Kunisada, Praha 2005, pp. 90 and 92)