Sōshū Enoshima Benzaiten kaichō mōde Hongū Iwaya no zu (Pilgrimage to the Unveiling of Benzaiten at Enoshima in Sagami: Caves at the Main Shrine)
Utagawa Hiroshige, Sōshū Enoshima Benzaiten kaichō mōde Hongū Iwaya no zu (Pilgrimage to the Unveiling of Benzaiten at Enoshima in Sagami: Caves at the Main Shrine), 1851, color woodblock print on paper; ōban nishiki-e; triptych, The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection, public domain, 32.742a-c
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Sōshū Enoshima Benzaiten kaichō mōde Hongū Iwaya no zu (Pilgrimage to the Unveiling of Benzaiten at Enoshima in Sagami: Caves at the Main Shrine)
- Related Titles
original language: 相州江の島弁財天開帳詣本宮岩屋の図
translated: Pilgrimage to the Unveiling of Benzaiten at Enoshima in Sagami: Caves at the Main Shrine
transliterated: Sōshū Enoshima Benzaiten kaichō mōde Hongū Iwaya no zu
- Artist
- Related People
publisher: Sumiyoshiya Masagorō (Japanese, active ca. 1847-1853)
- Date
1851
- Period
Japan: Edo period (1615-1868)
- Medium
color woodblock print on paper; ōban nishiki-e; triptych
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
overall: 14 9/16 in x 29 7/16 in
- Inscriptions & Markings
title: 相州江の島 // 辨才天開帳詣 // 本宮岩屋の図, printed in black ink within rectangular cartouche with double color bands, upper middle, center sheet Transliteration (Translation): Sōshū Enoshima // Benzaiten kaichō mōde // Hongū Iwaya no zu (pilgrimage to the unveiling of Benzaiten at Enoshima in Sagami, caves at the Main Shrine) Language: Japanese
censor's seal: 村田, printed in black relief within circular cartouche, upper right, right sheet; center left, left sheet Transliteration (Translation): Murata ([seal of the censor Murata Sahei 村田佐右衛]) Language: Japanese Description: Seals of government censors (nanushi) Kinugasa and Murata appear together on prints in 1851 and 1852.
censor's seal: 衣笠, printed in black relief within circular cartouche, upper right, right sheet; center left, left sheet Transliteration (Translation): Kinugasa ([seal of the censor Kinugasa Fusajirō 衣笠房次郎]) Language: Japanese
publisher's mark: 吉, printed in black ink with square cartouche, right sheet: lower right; center and left sheets: lower left Transliteration (Translation): Yoshi ([seal of the publisher Sumiyoshiya Masagorō 住吉屋政五郎]) Language: Japanese Description: Edo publisher, firm Hōraidō 鳳来堂 active ca. 1847-1853.
signature: 廣重画, right sheet: printed in black ink; center and left sheets: printed in black ink within rectangular cartouche on red ground, upper right, right sheet; center, center sheet; center left, left sheet Transliteration (Translation): Hiroshige ga (picture [by] Hiroshige) Language: Japanese
- Collection Area
Asian Art; Graphic Arts
- Category
Prints
Japanese Traditional Prints
- Object Type
relief print
- Culture
Japanese
- Credit Line
The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection
- Accession Number
32.742a-c
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
Pilgrims swarm the rocky paths of Enoshima Island, home to Benzaiten, the goddess of the arts. The treasures of Benzaiten’s shrine and the island’s temple complex were displayed once every six years, including the year this print was made. The emblems displayed on the women’s parasols indicate that they are members of amateur music groups from Edo, who have come to the island to pay their respects to Benzaiten while enjoying a little fun on the seashore. Away from the strict social conventions of city life, women and children were free to chat and play in the fresh sea air. Hiroshige’s lively scene vividly demonstrates how pilgrimages were undertaken as much for pleasure as piety in nineteenth-century Japan.
- Exhibitions
1999 Three Centuries of Japanese Prints from the Museum's Collections Portland Art Museum
2005 Crowd Appeal: Impressions of Edo Japan Portland Art Museum
2022; 2023 Human Nature: 150 Years of Japanese Landscape Prints Portland Art Museum
