Kitagawa Utamaro Collection
Three women seated, sorting and sewing fabrics; with three children and cat playing.
FORMAT: nishiki-e print (created by carving a separate woodblock for every colour). Size approx Ōban 15½ by 10½ inches (39 by 26.5 cm) - Actual 37.3x24.8cm Right / 37.2x24.8cm Middle / 37.2x24.7cm Left. Reproduced on 170gsm white paper.
PUBLISHER: Uemura Yohei (上村与兵衛) ca 1794-5
Utamaro
depicted more types of women, in various activities, than any other
Ukiyo-e artist. A group of respectable married women, surrounded by
their children and even a pet cat
are working together on a hot summer's day folding and mending obi
sashes.
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On the right, two of them stretch and fold a red silk sash
tie-dyed with a white 'starfish' pattern. A teenage girl examines an insect,
perhaps a firefly, in its tiny cage.
A little boy teases a cat with its reflection in a mirror.
On the left, the sewing equipment scattered on the floor suggests that this woman is holding up the sash to check a mend she has just made in the fine gauze, while a baby plays with its mother's fan. . This gives Utamaro a chance to exploit one of his favourite technical tricks of depicting figures seen through gauze.
Although the scene is one of warm domesticity, Utamaro still introduces a note of eroticismin the partially revealed breasts and legs of the figures clad lightly against the summer heat.
A little boy teases a cat with its reflection in a mirror.
On the left, the sewing equipment scattered on the floor suggests that this woman is holding up the sash to check a mend she has just made in the fine gauze, while a baby plays with its mother's fan. . This gives Utamaro a chance to exploit one of his favourite technical tricks of depicting figures seen through gauze.
Although the scene is one of warm domesticity, Utamaro still introduces a note of eroticismin the partially revealed breasts and legs of the figures clad lightly against the summer heat.
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