A Keg of Sake and a Basket of Oranges

Date:: 1820
Medium:: Color woodblock print; surimono
Format:: Oban
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

Typical Price

Later reprint or reproduction (20th-century): $50–$300
Good later impression (Edo-period): $1,000–$5,000
Good early impression (vivid color, legible detail): $5,000–$20,000
Fine early impression (exceptional color and condition): $20,000–$60,000

Hokusai's genre scenes, bijin-ga (beautiful women), and miscellaneous subjects represent the breadth of his career across more than seven decades. The market for non-landscape Hokusai prints has strengthened as collectors seek beyond the most famous designs.

Description

A lacquered keg of sake and a woven basket brimming with mandarin oranges are arranged together as symbolic offerings of prosperity and celebration. Produced in 1820 as a [surimono](/glossary/surimono), the print deploys meticulous still-life technique to render surface textures — the gleam of lacquer against woven fiber — while the pairing of sake and citrus alludes to New Year's felicities.