Banba: Teahouses on the Road
c. 1835–38 · Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper · National Diet Library, Tokyo
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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 1306258, call no. 寄別2-2-1-5; many other impressions exist)
- Movement
- Ukiyo-e
- Series
- Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō
The main street of a post town runs back between teahouses and inns with paper lanterns and lettered signs at their doors. In the foreground grooms lead two packhorses with red saddle cloths, a man in a green cape and wide hat walks toward us, and travellers stand talking by a stone wall, with tall pines and a green mountain behind. This is print sixty-three of The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō, published by Hōeidō and later Kinjudō, c. 1835–38. Keisai Eisen began the series and Utagawa Hiroshige, who designed this sheet, completed it. Banba was the sixty-second station on the Nakasendō, the inland road from Edo to Kyoto; the English title is descriptive, and 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
Soft greens and grey road with warm brown horses and white lanterns, for a hallway, entrance or dining room at 16×24 in natural wood. It pairs with Sekigahara: Teahouse by the Road for two post-town stops near the end of the journey.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Ukiyo-e painting
- Era
- 19th century (c. 1835–38)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cornflower blue, cream & beige
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- dining room, hallway or entryway, living room, dorm room
- 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 Banba: Teahouses on the Road in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Banba: Teahouses on the Road 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.
