Sparrows and Camellia in Snow
c. 1830–1838 · Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper (kakemono-e) · Library of Congress, Washington, DC
The whole print, uncropped, on a printed cream mat with its title beneath.
Museum-quality archival paper: heavyweight, acid-free, resists yellowing
- Printed to order, arrives in 4–9 business days
- Arrives perfect or we reprint it, free
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About this work
- Artist
- Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
- Year
- c. 1830–1838
- Medium
- Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper (kakemono-e)
- Collection
- Library of Congress, Washington, DC
- Movement
- Ukiyo-e
Two sparrows flutter beneath a camellia branch in falling snow, one with wings spread wide, the other tilted towards the ground. The camellia's red flowers and dark green leaves are capped with thick white snow, and the background shades from deep blue at the top to pale grey below, dotted with flakes. A Chinese poem runs down the upper right. The print is a tall, narrow ōtanzaku, a format used for bird-and-flower subjects. Utagawa Hiroshige designed it in about 1831 to 1833. The Art Institute of Chicago holds two impressions of the design and considers this the earlier printing. The poem has been identified as lines from a verse by the Chinese poet Bai Juyi, known in Japan as Hakurakuten.
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
Red camellias and brown sparrows under a deep blue sky full of snowflakes, on a tall narrow sheet. Suits a narrow wall, entryway or beside a mantel with Koson's Cawing Crow on a Snowy Branch, framed in black.
Size, framing & materials
- Style
- Ukiyo-e painting
- Era
- 19th century (c. 1830–1838)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cornflower blue, blush pink
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, travelers, art lovers
Size. 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. See it to scale on your wall →
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — dark 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).
- Restored in-house from a scan of the original print, cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution
- Museum-quality archival paper: heavyweight, acid-free, resists yellowing
- Framed option: wood frame in black or dark 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
