Niekawa: Changing Horses at the Post House
c. 1835–38 · Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper · National Diet Library, Tokyo
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This print
About this work
- Artist
- Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
- Year
- c. 1835–38
- Medium
- Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper
- Original size
- approx. 23 × 35 cm (horizontal ōban)
- Collection
- National Diet Library, Tokyo (impression pid 1306235, call no. 寄別2-2-1-5; many other impressions exist)
- Movement
- Ukiyo-e
- Series
- Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō
In front of the post house, a porter in a loincloth reaches up to unload a horse carrying green-wrapped baggage, and a man sits on a palanquin stand with his knees drawn up. On the raised floor inside, a bald man sits among travellers and a serving woman, lettered signboards hang from the eaves, and a man leans on the balcony rail above. This is print thirty-four of The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō, published by Kinjudō (Iseya Rihei), c. 1835–38. Keisai Eisen began the series and Utagawa Hiroshige, who designed this sheet, completed it. Niekawa was the thirty-third station on the Nakasendō, the inland road from Edo to Kyoto; the English title is descriptive, and 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
Pale grey timber, soft green ground and touches of indigo and red, for a hallway, study or home office at 24×16 in black. It pairs with Hiroshige's Fujieda: Changing Porters and Horses for two post-house scenes from the two highways.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Ukiyo-e painting
- Era
- 19th century (c. 1835–38)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Palette
- cornflower blue
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, home office, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, travelers, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×16. Prints at 18×12, 24×16 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard.
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 Niekawa: Changing Horses at the Post House in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Niekawa: Changing Horses at the Post House 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.
