Original woodblock prints in two shades of grey and one of pink; J.A. Michener, The Hokusai Sketch-Books. Selections from the Manga, Rutland and Tokyo, 1958, pp. 248–249; Koban format; 180 × 130 mm each.
A fine print from the Manga collection, a fifteen-volume series published between 1814 and 1878 (the last three volumes posthumously).
The series was conceived by Hokusai to illustrate every aspect of Japan: from folklore to architecture, and from flora to fauna. The plates in the collection served as a manual for apprentice artists, providing a wide range of ideas for tackling any kind of subject.
This double-page spread is discussed in the section on Architecture by Michener in his famous essay on Hokusai’s Manga (Plates 169–170). The author highlights how the section of the eave in the top left-hand corner forms a continuous line with the main roof. The presence of bells at the corners of the structure, and the sophisticated decorative scheme, allow it to be identified as the roof of a Buddhist temple, the lower part of which, featuring the large bell, was sketched in another plate, mentioned in the same essay on p. 254 (Plate 175).
Good, irregular margins all round. In perfect condition.
Ref. 7361