Landscape
portraits of Japan from the well known 100 Famous Views of
Edo to Views of the 60 Odd Provinces all speak to the panoramic
character of Hiroshige’s vision. This is why the intimacy
of this scene which captures a beautiful woman in the act
of removing leaves which have collected in the basin at left
is so remarkable coming from the hand of Hiroshige. One presumes
her intent is to water the “Root over Rock” style
Pine Bonsai at right. As revealed in many of the Bonsai images
shown in our collection we begin to accept that the pots of
this era were selected on the basis totally different aesthetic
criteria than are considered appropriate today.
