Fox Fires on New Year's Eve under the Enoki Tree near Ōji
1857 · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper · Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
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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
- 34.8 × 23 cm
- Collection
- Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (impression RP-P-1956-755; many other impressions exist)
- Movement
- Ukiyo-e
- Series
- One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
Under a great bare enoki tree on a starry winter night, a gathering of white foxes stands in the field, each with a small flame floating above its head, while more foxes approach across the fields from the dark woods beyond. The scene is printed almost entirely in muted blues and greys, so the pale foxes and their fires glow out of the dark. The print is number one hundred and eighteen in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, published by Uoya Eikichi, with a censor's seal of the ninth month of 1857, and it is the last of Hiroshige's own designs in the usual order of the series. Local legend held that on New Year's Eve the foxes of the region gathered at this tree before visiting the Ōji Inari shrine, the head shrine of the fox messengers of Inari. It is one of the few scenes of pure folklore in the series; impressions vary in colour and condition.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Moody blue-grey night with pale glowing foxes, for a living room, study or child's room at 24×36 in black. It pairs with The Ōji Inari Shrine, the shrine the foxes are said to visit.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Ukiyo-e painting
- Era
- 19th century (1857)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cornflower blue
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- living room, study or library, kids room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, travelers, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — natural wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
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 Fox Fires on New Year's Eve under the Enoki Tree near Ōji in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Fox Fires on New Year's Eve under the Enoki Tree near Ōji 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.
