The Dyers' Quarter in Kanda
1857 · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper · National Diet Library, Tokyo
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This print
About this work
- Artist
- Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
- Year
- 1857
- Medium
- Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Original size
- approx. 36 × 24 cm (ōban)
- Collection
- National Diet Library, Tokyo (impression pid 1303281; many other impressions exist)
- Movement
- Ukiyo-e
- Series
- One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
Long strips of freshly dyed cloth in blue and white, some checked and some patterned with small motifs, hang from tall drying racks above the rooftops, rippling down the length of the sheet. Through a gap between them a small white Fuji rises over the city on the horizon. The print is number seventy-five in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, published by Uoya Eikichi, with a censor's seal of the eleventh month of 1857. Konya-chō in Kanda was the indigo dyers' quarter, and the cloth was hung high to dry above the roofs. Hiroshige turns the fabric itself into the subject, a vertical rhythm of blues across the sheet; impressions vary in colour and condition.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Indigo and white cloth against a pale sky with a small white Fuji, for a bedroom, sewing room or hallway at 16×24 in natural wood. It pairs with Hatsune Riding Ground in Bakuro-chō, another print built on drying cloth.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Ukiyo-e painting
- Era
- 19th century (1857)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cornflower blue
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- bedroom, hallway or entryway, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, travelers, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Dyers' Quarter in Kanda in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Dyers' Quarter in Kanda painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
