Artwork Page for Gathering Shellfish at Low Tide at Susaki, from Famous Places in Edo

Details / Information for Gathering Shellfish at Low Tide at Susaki, from Famous Places in Edo

Gathering Shellfish at Low Tide at Susaki, from Famous Places in Edo

江都名所　洲崎しほ干狩

mid-1830s

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重

(Japanese, 1797–1858)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
color woodblock print
Measurements
Sheet: 22.3 x 34.7 cm (8 3/4 x 13 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.315
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Susaki, a strip of land along Edo (now Tokyo) Bay, was known for excellent shellfish harvests during low tide in the spring. Utagawa Hiroshige designed this print so that the viewer seems to be floating in the bay on board a ship, whose mast and rigging span the left foreground. Instead of depicting the lives of wealthy elites, this landscape focuses on the working-class people wading into shallow water to fill their baskets with shellfish. Susaki Shrine is shown amid pine trees on the right, while the leisure class enjoying the sea breezes from a pavilion are reduced to small figures in the background.
A horizontally oriented woodblock print with fine lines and flat color washes creates a coastal scene at low tide. In the foreground, light-skinned figures in patterned garments wade through blue water gathering shellfish. To the left, a tall pole supports a thatched structure. In the background, houses and pine trees sit atop a grassy bank under a pale orange sky. Vertical Japanese calligraphy and red seals mark the right edge.

Gathering Shellfish at Low Tide at Susaki, from Famous Places in Edo

mid-1830s

Utagawa Hiroshige

(Japanese, 1797–1858)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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