(1797-1858) Series: ’Fuji sanj no kaigan (The coast near Kubota in Awa Province) (Awa=Bôshu; this term has been read in differing ways: Kubota, Hoda, Hota, Yasuda), signature (lower left in a red lengthwise cartouche): ‘Hiroshiga ga’, publisher’s seal (lower right): Tsutaya Kichizô (Kôeido), censor’s/date seal (above publisher’s seal): Horse 4 (1858), colour woodblock print, tate-e oban (vertical format). According to Gordon Friese in his report dated 26 June 2019, this sheet is an impression from the original woodblocks (the visible wood grain, typical of original impressions may be seen in the sky, and in the centre of the right outer margin, the paper is thin, again as is typical). The sheet has margins to all sides. The red of the cartouche is very faded (in other later impressions the signature cartouche was sometimes printed in yellow). The bokashi where the sky terminates above is very firmly executed. The cloud above Mount Fuji is printed in blue instead of violet (as in early impressions). To the lower left corner, there is no bokashi. Seen as a whole, the colours are coarser/more saturated than would be employed in early impressions. There is damage to the paper surface across the sky and beneath Mount Fuji. The contour lines around the cartouches, particularly to the left, are very fine. There is a break in the lower contour line. Some of the colour fields are no longer sharply delineated. The colours describing the figures are at times not fully saturated and appear smeared. The paper is rubbed, dusty and stained. In conclusion, this is a later impression in an indifferent state of preservation. As a comparison, see the early impression in the Library of Congress, no. FP 2 - JPD, no. 1245, approx. 15.5 cm, restoration work to wide tear in the paper and short tears to the left of the expanse of water, stained, laid down on album paper, 33.7 x 22.2 cm (image size), 36.5 x 24.8 cm (sheet size), (CT)