Katsushika-Hokusai "birds and sunset" Art Mug

This coffee or tea mug with “birds and sunset” by Katsushika-Hokusai will soothe you as you sip from it. This fine, serene artwork is a vintage Japanese woodblock print from his 1814 “Album of Sketches”. Noted for his skill and use of color, Hokusai heavily influenced the Impressionists. Impressionists were the Bohemians of the time, breaking conventional rules to create new ones. His “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” certainly did that.

Did you know he was apprenticed at 14, and later expelled from that school? The embarrassment from his teacher spurred him on to develop his own style. He also changed his name a lot. Late in life he called himself Gakyo rojin manji,' The Old Man Mad About Art.' We owe the term ‘Manga’ to him – he made funny drawings of his students. Sadly, much of his over 30,000 works were destroyed in a fire. His daughter also later became an artist in her own right.

Although he didn’t live to be 110 years old, this is when he thought he would produce his best work. He followed the Nichiren school of Buddhism, which believed that Mount Fuji was associated with eternal life, the secret being placed somewhere on it’s peak. That could be why his masterpiece is considered to be Thirsty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. Which actually is 46 prints. Kind of like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy having five volumes.

• 11 ounces. A standard American Coffee size is 8 ounces (slightly higher in Europe), while the general consensus of the Tea community is that a cup of Tea is only 6 ounces. So you have room for cream, a spoon, or a teabag.
• Microwave Safe and
• Dishwasher Safe for easy cleanup. Remember, dishwashers use less water than handwashing.
• White High-Gloss Ceramic, with colored interior and handle. The high gloss brings out the colors better.
• C-handle for a comfortable, easy grip
• We used an eye-catching color contrast, with colors chosen to go with the woodblock print.