Perlman Teaching Museum - Caverns of the Gold Mine on Sado Island (Sado kinzan okuana no zu)

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Bookmark: https://artcollection.carleton.edu/objects-1/info/433

Caverns of the Gold Mine on Sado Island (Sado kinzan okuana no zu)

1859
19th century
13 1/8 in. x 8 1/2 in. (33.34 cm x 21.59 cm)

Utagawa Hiroshige II, Japanese, (1826–1869)

Object Type: Prints

Creation Place: Asia, Japan

Medium and Support: color woodblock print on paper

Credit Line: Carleton College Art Collection

Accession Number: 1997.140

From One Hundred Views of Famous Places in the Provinces (Shokoku meisho hyakkei)

An unusual subterranean scene is depicted here. Gold was first discovered on Sado island in the Sea of Japan in the 12th century. Cold and desolate, Sado island also held a large penal colony to which numerous political and religious figures, including Nichiren, the founder of an important Japanese Buddhist sect and Zeami the originator of the Noh drama, were exiled and forced to labor in the gold mines. Hiroshige II has concentrated on the interesting challenge of depicting the underground realm of the gold mines while showing workers eating, relaxing and in some cases working the ore.

Keywords Click a term to view the records with the same keyword

This object has the following keywords:

19th Century, color woodcuts, Japanese, paper (fiber product)*, prints (visual works)*, temple blocks*, woodcuts (prints)*

19th Century
color woodcuts
Japanese
paper (fiber product) - Refers generally to all types of matted or felted sheets or webs of fiber formed and dried on a fine screen from a pulpy water suspension. The fibers may be animal, such as hair, silk or wool, or mineral, such as asbestos, or synthetic. However most paper is made from cellulosic plant fiber, such as from wood pulp, grass, cotton, linen, and straw.
prints (visual works) - Pictorial works produced by transferring images by means of a matrix such as a plate, block, or screen, using any of various printing processes. When emphasizing the individual printed image, use "impressions." Avoid the controversial expression "original prints," except in reference to discussions of the expression's use. If prints are neither "reproductive prints" nor "popular prints," use just "prints." With regard to photographs, see "photographic prints"; for types of reproductions of technical drawings and documents, see terms found under "reprographic copies."
temple blocks - Woodblocks used in temple rituals in China, Japan, and Korea.
woodcuts (prints) - Prints made using the process of woodcut.