Matsuida: Packhorse on the Mountain Road
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 1306223, call no. 寄別2-2-1-5; many other impressions exist)
- Movement
- Ukiyo-e
- Series
- Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō
A packhorse loaded with green-bound bales comes down a steep grey road, led by a small figure in orange, with a traveller in a round yellow hat ahead. At the top of the slope a great tree stands by a tall post and a small roofed shrine, and a rider on a second loaded horse heads over the crest, under a sky deepening from cream to dark blue. This is print seventeen 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. Matsuida was the sixteenth 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
Deep green slopes, a pale road and a dark blue sky edge, for a hallway, study or home office at 16×24 in natural wood. It pairs with Annaka: The Hill Road at Dusk for two climbs on consecutive stretches of the road.
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
- 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 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 Matsuida: Packhorse on the Mountain Road in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Matsuida: Packhorse on the Mountain 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.
