I was recently looking for a new piece of furniture at a thrift store and came across this cute little gem:
Yeah, that’s $1.59 for the whole pack.
Ukiyo-e coasters for less than 2 dollars? I’m interested. How messed up do they look, though?
Oh, what’s that? They are like mint frickin’ condition?
They feature these three artist’s work.
A total of twelve coasters, in all. There are four by each artist; featuring the work of Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige’s lovely landscapes and Toshusai Sharaku’s kabuki actor series:
We also have four lovely ladies produced by Kitagawa Utamaro which, if you’ve watched the latest Samurai Gaiden videos, you might be able to catch a glimpse of behind me:
It’s a bit of a shame that when I’m talking in the videos you can’t really see more of the knickknacks and art I have on the table behind me. Maybe I’ll make a video showcasing some of my stuff on it if people express some interest in it.
These coasters were designed to sit your drink on, but I have no intention of using them for that. The previous owner didn’t seem to either, since they are meticulously maintained. Not a bad deal for $1.59.
Actually, there might be one cup I could see using on them. Something I picked up from half-price books the same day I got that set of Encyclopedia Britannicas:
A cup of Katsushika Hokusai’s Great Wave off Kanagawa sitting on Ando Hiroshige’s rendition of the same image.
~RCS
Richard C. Shaffer 