Voorkant van envelop met afbeelding bloesemende pruimentakken 1845 - 1850

This is an envelope front with an image of plum blossoms, created by Utagawa Hiroshige, a renowned Japanese artist who died in 1858. Hiroshige was a master of ukiyo-e, or "pictures of the floating world," a genre closely linked to the rise of a mercantile class in the Edo period. The plum blossom was a popular motif in Japanese art and literature and symbolized the coming of spring. Woodblock prints like this were commercial objects, produced for a mass market. Hiroshige worked within a complex system involving publishers, block cutters, and printers. His art reflects both an engagement with traditional aesthetics and a response to the changing social and economic conditions of his time. Art historians rely on a variety of sources to understand works like this, including historical documents, economic data, and cultural studies, so we can contextualize the image's meaning. The beauty and artistry of this print are inseparable from its historical context.