The Summer Horse Fair at Chiryü (Staton #40)

Catalog note / 解説

Every year around the fourth month of the lunar calendar, about four to five hundred horses were gathered from the Kantö area and sold at Chiryü. During the market, it was crowded not only with horse sellers and buyers but with spectators, retailers, and even prostitutes targeting the market-goers. This print is a superb impression among several variants in the Academy’s collection of Hiroshige prints. As you can see in the before treatment photograph, the print suffered from a variety of structural damages to the washi, or paper support, including dents, creases, losses, and holes. The print was buckled due to an inappropriate previous mount, and very soiled and worn due to previous handli…