Utagawa Hiroshige, Authentic Edo-Period Ukiyo-e Depicting Kappa (Water Sprites) and Other Subjects.

A single loose leaf from Sohitsu gafu (An Album of Freehand Sketches).

Printed in 1848, the first year of the Kaei era.

By Utagawa Hiroshige. An authentic original print, not a reproduction.

Minor traces of insect damage.

Presented in a B5-size wooden frame with an acrylic panel. Simply framed and ready for display. The woodblocks show no apparent signs of wear, suggesting an impression close to the first printing. Suitable for collectors of Edo-period antiques, traditional works of art and miscellaneous antiquities, as well as enthusiasts of hanging scrolls and related artworks.

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797, Kansei 9 - October 12,1858, the sixth day of the ninth month of Ansei 5) was an ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period. His birth name was Ando Juemon, and his childhood name was Tokutaro. He was subsequently also known as Juemon, Tetsuzo and Tokube. Although sometimes called Ando Hiroshige, Ando was his family name and Hiroshige his artist's name; combining the two is inappropriate, and Hiroshige himself never used this form. Born into the Ando family, which held a hereditary position in Edo's jobikeshi, the permanent firefighting service, he inherited the family office before becoming an ukiyo-e artist. His landscape woodblock prints enjoyed widespread popularity and influenced Western painters, including Van Gogh and Monet.