woman cleaning a pipe

Kitagawa Utamaro, artist

1754–1806

woman cleaning a pipe, circa 1800, Edo period (1600–1868)

Portfolio/Series title: Meisho fūkei bijin jūnisō (Famous Views: 12 Aspects of Beautiful Women)

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: color woodcut

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 379 x 255 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 14 15/16 x 10 1/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 379 x 255 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 14 15/16 x 10 1/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in

Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial

Accession number: 1928.7882

Not on display

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Label texts

Archive Label 2003:
Utamaro is celebrated for his portrait prints of beautiful women, or bijinga, in a bewitchingly charming style. His great accomplishment in the bijinga genre was capturing the nuances and delicate expressions of feminine emotional states, revealed only through a close study of facial features and expressive gestures. For this effect, Utamaro created a new genre known as okubie, or “large head” pictures, that depicted only a close-up, bust view of the head and shoulders devoid of background setting.
The “large-head print” shown here depicts a woman cleaning her pipe with a long bamboo stick. The delicate depiction of the woman’s graceful face is a subtle allusion to her contemplative frame of mind.