Watakuri Uma Print

A beautiful and soft-toned print, printed on textured fine art paper. The original 1822 surimono woodcut was created by Katsushika Hokusai (he of ‘The Wave’ fame) as part of a series relating to horses. It was a commission by the Yomogawa, one of the most prestigious poetry groups of the time, to celebrate the year of the horse.

The print features an interior scene with a saddle, a cotton gin, a smoking set and a plum blossom branch, with three poems by the poets Sojuro Matsuchi, Kagetsutei Tatazumi and Matsunoya Sononari. The name alludes to the ‘watakuri’ or ‘cotton gin’, usually seen atop a sawhorse-like stand.