Item from the Mokuhankan Flea Market

Hiroshige Tanzaku Collection Vol.2

Size: 50.0cm by 26.5cm (19.69 in by 10.43 in) | Enlargement | Shipping Code: [L] ?

Designer: Ando Hiroshige

Era: Post-war | Currency: $ / £ / €

Price: ¥ 80,000$ 699.00£ 509.00€ 600.00 [Item has been sold]

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Description: The tanzaku prints in this set, all designed by Hiroshige and probably originally produced between 1830 and 1844, were reproduced by Takamizawa in the 1970s. Many of Hiroshige's tanzaku are kachō-ga - illustrations of birds and flowers - while less often they feature landscapes.

While in the Edo period tanzaku prints almost always included a classical poem that somehow reflected or interacted with the image portrayed, a few of the reproduction prints in this set have been printed without poems. The format of tanzaku allowed artists to show off their design skills by requiring them to arrange a poem with other elements in an aesthetically pleasing way on a small canvas. A variety of printing techniques including bokashi (gradation) and kara-zuri (blind-embossing) were often used in these prints, adding to their beauty as 'snapshots' of nature.

24 prints were published in two volumes by Takamizawa, and this item is a full set of Vol.2, which consists of 12 prints. The dimension displayed is the box size, and the print image size is approximately 38cm x 12cm or 38cm x 17cm.

If you would like to know more about this set, you can see hi-resolution photographs of the prints in the Mokuhankan Collection copy.


It is rare for us to obtain complete sets in good condition (they almost always have at least one print missing). The set here is presented just as it was to the collectors in the post-war period when Takamizawa produced it.

Inside the cloth case are 12 envelopes holding prints, and an index leaflet (in Japanese).

Each print is held in a paper folder and most of the prints are lightly tipped in to the folder. Takamizawa also supplied frames; the idea was that the collectors would simply place the prints (in their folders) into the interchangeable frame. This is 'Sparrows in the Snow'

'Hawk on Plum Branch'

'Cherry Blossoms at Gotenyama'

'Finch on Wisteria' This print has slight creases at the top left corner.

'Peacock and Peonies'

'Peonies'

'Frogs and Yamabuki'

'Summer Moon at Ryogoku'

'Peacock and Chrysanthemum'

'Maple Leaves at Kaian-ji Temple'

'Swallows and Peach Blossoms' This print has slight creases at the top left side.

'Parrot'

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