Court ladies gathering maple leaves print Momijigari no himegimi tryptych – Utagawa Kunisada c1850

Court ladies gathering maple leaves print. Momijigari no himegimi tryptych – Utagawa Kunisada c1850 This is a wonderful reproduction print of a Japanese woodblock print that was originally created around 1850. The title of the ukiyo-e print is Momijigari no himegimi, which translates into English as ‘Court ladies gathering maple leaves’. The poster features two beautiful geisha women sitting at the edge of a table. It formed the first panel of a vertical Oban Nishikie triptych. The triptych is called Autumn Picnic Scene from Inaka Genji and is part of a series of images created by the Edo period Japanese artist Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III). The series is titled ‘Yasa sugata Azuma no utsushi-e’ which means Eastern Magic Lantern Slides of a Charming Figure. Ukiyo-e woodcut artist Utagawa Kunisada The artist who created the ‘Court ladies gathering maple leaves’ was called Utagawa Kunisada, also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III (三代 歌川 豊国). In the mid-nineteenth century he was the most popular, prolific and commercially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints. His reputation in Edo, now Tokyo, far exceeded that of fellow contemporaries Hokusai, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi. However, according to Wikipedia, among European and American collectors of Japanese prints, beginning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, all three of these artists were actually regarded as rather inferior to the greats of classical ukiyo-e, and therefore as having contributed considerably to the downfall of their art. For this reason, some referred to their works as “decadent”. Over the decades the three artists work has been reappraised and have been reassessed as masters of the ukiyo-e genre. Hiroshige in the 1930s and Kuniyoshi in the 1970s. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that Kunisada’s work re-gained widespread appreciation. Nowadays, Kunisada is now as well-regarded in Europe and America as he was in Japan. He is considered one of the main masters of the ukiyo-e art   Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as a fun, affordable reproductionS and not intended fine art prints. The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £15.