Akasaka: Inn with Serving Maids
1833–34 · Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper · Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York
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This print
About this work
- Artist
- Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
- Year
- 1833–34
- Medium
- Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper
- Original size
- 23.9 × 36.4 cm
- Collection
- Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York (impression 1948-134-37; many other impressions exist)
- Movement
- Ukiyo-e
- Series
- Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō
Looking across an inn's courtyard, where a large sago palm and a stone lantern stand, we see two rooms opening onto a veranda. On the left, a guest comes back from the bath with a towel over his shoulder, another lounges on the mat and a maid brings in trays of food; on the right, serving women do their hair and make-up beside stacks of bright bedding. The print is number thirty-seven in the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, published by Hōeidō (Takenouchi Magohachi) in 1833–34. Akasaka, the thirty-sixth station, lay very close to Goyu, and the two towns were known for their many inns and serving women; impressions vary in colour and condition.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Teal and indigo interiors around a dark sago palm, for a living room, dining room or study at 16×24 in natural wood. It pairs with Goyu: Women Stopping Travelers for two scenes of the inns at neighbouring stations.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Ukiyo-e painting
- Era
- 19th century (1833–34)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cornflower blue, cream & beige
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- living room, dining room, study or library, hallway or entryway
- Good gift for
- housewarming, travelers, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. 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. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
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 Akasaka: Inn with Serving Maids in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Akasaka: Inn with Serving Maids painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
