210122-0030-OS - Carving Bogwood

Woodblock print of a female artisan carving bogwood in Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture.

Matsushima Bay, with is 260 tiny islands covered in pines, is one of the celebrated Three Views of Japan (日本三景, Nihon Sankei).

Original title: Crafting umoregi zaiku bogwood carvings in Matsushima, Rikuzen Province (同國松島景並埋木細工之図) from the series Products of Greater Japan (大日本物産圖會, Dai Nippon Bussan Zue) by Utagawa Hiroshige III (三代目 歌川広重, 1842?-1894). Published in Tokyo by Okura Magobei (大倉孫兵衛) in 1877 (Meiji 10).

The series was published just before the opening of the First National Industrial Exposition (第1回内国勧業博覧会) in Tokyo’s Ueno Park on August 21, 1877.