Mitake: The Cheap Lodging House
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 1306243, call no. 寄別2-2-1-5; many other impressions exist)
- Movement
- Ukiyo-e
- Series
- Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō
Under a thatched roof, guests of a cheap lodging house sit round a hearth where a pot hangs over the fire, beside a lettered sign for the inn. Outside on the green, a woman with two buckets on a shoulder pole walks toward the house, a boy carries a bundle, a cockerel stands by the path and an old woman washes a tub in the stream. This is print fifty 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. Mitake was the forty-ninth 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
Fresh green ground, golden thatch and lanterns, and a deep blue evening sky, for a kitchen, dining room or living room at 16×24 in natural wood. It pairs with Shimosuwa: Travellers Dining at an Inn for two evenings at the inns of the Kisokaidō.
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
- living room, kitchen, dining room, dorm room, 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 Mitake: The Cheap Lodging House in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Mitake: The Cheap Lodging House 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.
