Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III). View of the Azuma Bridge (Azuma-bashi no kei) / Fan print, 1854.

Inscriptions:
Title: View of the Azuma Bridge (吾妻ばしの景, Azuma-bashi no kei), in a red circular cartouche, top left
Signature: Toyokuni ga [豊國画], in a red toshidama cartouche, lower left
Block carver: hori Take [彫竹], in a yellow rectangular cartouche for Yokogawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎], lower left
Publisher: Mihei (Sanpei) [三平] for Mikawaya Heiroku [三河屋平六], bottom left
Censor: aratame [改] — approved, lower left
Date: 2/1854 (弐寅) — Kaei 7, bottom left

Description:
Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e (団扇絵), 225 × 290 mm. Bust-length portrait of a woman in three-quarter view, turning left, holding with both hands the roof edge of a covered pleasure boat (yakatabune, 屋形船). Her coiffure is arranged in a shimada style (島田髷) with a comb and hairpins; her teeth are blackened (ohaguro, お歯黒). She wears a robe in shades of blue, decorated with dense floral roundels and geometric motifs; the collar and the inner sleeves reveal a red undergarment. Behind the figure, the Sumida River scene extends at low horizon with the Azuma Bridge (吾妻橋) spanning the water, with boats along the banks and beneath the bridge. At lower right, vertical timbers of a riverside landing (funa-tsukiba, 船着場) are visible.

Note: One more fan print from the same series “View of [… ]” (… no kei; の景) is recorded in the Kunisada Project database (Horst Graebner):

Condition: Cut out and backed; collector’s stamp in the lower left of the backing; local discolouration