Maple Trees at Mama

The artwork

A great forked trunk frames the scene like a window, and from its branches hang the autumn maple leaves. You receive it printed on handmade Amalfi paper, in a handmade frame.

• The red and dark leaves, the blue sky and the pink sunset over the mountains.
• A warm autumn picture that gives atmosphere to a sitting room or a study.
• A gift for anyone who loves autumn and Japanese poetry.

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), the best loved landscape artist of Japan, published it in 1857 in the One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, the series devoted to the city now called Tokyo. Mama was a village more than fifteen kilometres east of the centre, but its maples were so famous that the journey was worth making. Beyond the trees we see Tekona Shrine and the bridge of the title: places that Japanese literature had celebrated for centuries, long before they became destinations for outings.

The colour of the leaves was made with red lead, a lead-based pigment, or with iron oxide, both of which tend to darken over the years: that is why in many old impressions, like this one, the orange has turned almost brown. Our reproduction comes from the impression in the Brooklyn Museum in New York.

In a sitting room or a study it brings the warm colours of autumn. A refined gift for anyone who loves Japan.

Unique quality material

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 29 x 42 cm (11.4 x 16.5 in)
With frame: 31 x 44 cm (12.2 x 17.3 in)
Material: artwork printed on very fine handmade Amalfi paper with deckled edges
Frame: dark brown with gold fillet, handmade, with glass