Kusatsu: Famous Post House

Utagawa Hiroshige

1833–34 · Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Size3:2 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.

Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

Kusatsu: Famous Post House

Akasaka: Inn with Serving Maids

Arai: Ferryboats

3 × $59 at 24 × 16 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

Choose different prints →

Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

Free shipping worldwide · arrives in 4–9 business days

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

Secure checkout via Stripe

About this work

Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
Year: 1833–34
Medium: Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper
Original size: 24.1 × 35.6 cm
Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (impression JP523; many other impressions exist)
Movement: Ukiyo-e
Series: Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō

Palanquin bearers run across the foreground, some carrying an open palanquin with its passenger and others a large closed one with green screens. Behind them a busy rest house serves customers at long tables under a blue roof, a packhorse is unloaded at the left, and the sign advertises ubagamochi, the rice cakes sold there. The print is number fifty-three in the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, published by Hōeidō (Takenouchi Magohachi) in 1833–34. Kusatsu, the fifty-second station, was where the Nakasendō, the inland mountain road from Edo, joined the Tōkaidō for the final stretch to Kyoto; 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

A pale yellow ground and blue roofs with a bright green palanquin, for a den, home office or study at 24×16 in natural wood. It pairs with Fujieda: Changing Porters and Horses for two scenes of the porters who carried the road's traffic.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Ukiyo-e painting
Era: 19th century (1833–34)
Orientation: Landscape
Palette: cornflower blue
Mood: calm
Rooms: 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

• Restored in-house from the original painting — cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 18×12, 24×16 in; every size also available framed • Framed option: wood frame in black or natural wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Printed after you order at the facility nearest you, then shipped. Standard delivery is free and takes 4–9 business days from order to door in the US, UK and EU (up to 10 elsewhere); Express takes 4–6 business days. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The image fills the print at the painting's own proportions; nothing is trimmed to fit a frame.

Is Kusatsu: Famous Post House in the public domain?

Yes. Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 18×12 and 24×16 inches; every size is also offered framed in black or natural wood, with plexiglass and no mat. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was Kusatsu: Famous Post House painted, and in what medium?

Kusatsu: Famous Post House dates from 1833–34 and was made in woodblock print; ink and colour on paper; the original measures 24.1 × 35.6 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

Across a three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×16 is the size that reads as one statement piece; 18×12 suits a narrower wall or a pair. For Kusatsu: Famous Post House we'd choose 24×16. It is a landscape print, wider than it is tall, at the painting's own proportions.

About this design

Kusatsu: Famous Post House (Utagawa Hiroshige) — Kusatsu: Famous Post House, Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō · Utagawa Hiroshige · 1833–34. This is a fine-art reproduction of a public-domain masterwork, shown whole and uncropped on a gallery ground, printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Every size is offered unframed or framed in black or natural wood. Part of the Madten Fine Art Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

Buy with confidence

The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in 4–9 business days.

Secure checkout. Payments handled by Stripe; we never see or store your card.

Also available as