Viewing the Sannō Festival (Sannō sairei jōran 山王祭礼上覧), from the series “Chiyoda Castle (Album of Men)” (Chiyoda no on-omote 千代田之御表),

1897 [Meiji 30], March

Between Meiji 27 and 29 (1894~96), Hashimoto produced a series of triptychs titled Chiyoda no Ō-oku千代田の大奥. Prints from the series are in the collections of the Tokyo National Museum and the Edo-Tokyo Museum. The series covers annual events participated in by the women of the Edo Castle at Chiyoda in Tokyo. The series title has been translated as “Inner Palace of the Edo Castle” (Special Exhibition: Ukiyo-e, October 16-November 25, 1984, Tokyo National Museum). The prints depict special seasonal occasions such as the celebration of the birthday of the historical Buddha and cherry blossom viewing, and well as more regular activities like poetry contests and flower arranging. The most dynamic scene of the series, titled “Otachinoki”, or “The Retreat”, depicts women guarding the retreat from the palace during a fire. In Meiji 30 (1897), Hashimoto produced another series of triptychs entitled Chiyoda no On-omote千代田の御表. As with the previous series, “Inner Palace of the Edo Castle”, the opening scene actually consists of not three, but six prints with a continuous scene. The series title could be translated as “Outer Palace of the Edo Castle”, based upon its use of the term “omote”, which refers literally to the outer, or public, area of the palace. It is clearly meant as a companion series to “Inner Palace of the Edo Castle”, as it focuses upon the activities of military men carried out in the more public areas and grounds of the castle. However, it also includes scenes of men participating in events beyond the castle precincts in the capital, and as far away as the shogunal mausoleum at Nikkō. Thus, a more accurate title may be “About and Beyond the Outer Precincts of the Palace at Chiyoda”. Like the “Inner Palace of the Edo Castle”, the later series included a table of contents printed in the diptych format and containing the artist’s name, the name and address of the publisher, and the dated publisher’s seal. “About and Beyond the Outer Precincts of the Palace at Chiyoda” is comprised in total of 31 scenes. The prints could have been collected separately, as they were produced, and later formed into an album, as is the case with this copy. This copy has been mounted as an album with a silk cover over a thick pressed board padded with cotton and wrapped in paper. The prints are affixed in accordion fashion to thick paper patterned with small scattered squares of brown paint in imitation of cut gold decoration. The title cartouche, mounted on a backing paper and affixed to the silk cover, reads Chiyoda no On-omote: zen 千代田の御表 全, “About and Beyond the Outer Precincts of the Palace at Chiyoda, entire series.” The table of contents is printed in two large rectangles of orange and green, respectively, and set against a yellow background. The asymmetrical design is enhanced by a group of seven cranes that frame the rectangles with a pattern of counterclockwise flight. Donated by Arthur M. Martz in memory of his wife Dorothy Ellice Edwards Martz. Dorothy received the album in 1975 from her mother Gertrude Ellice Edwards. The album was brought to England by an ancestor who was among the earliest to do business with the Japanese, and for whom the Ellice Islands are said to be named after. Dorothy's father, Mr. Ellice moved the family from England sometime before Dorothy was born in 1885.