Yoshiwara Picture Book of New Year’s Festivities (Seirō ehon nenjū gyōji) : [volume 2]

Kitagawa, Utamaro, 1753?-1806 · 1804 · Edo : Kazusaya Chūsuke 上総屋忠助 · 5 pictures

A woodblock-printed picture book published in Edo in 1804 by Kitagawa Utamaro, showing the annual round of New Year's observances in the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, made for a popular urban readership. The double-page spreads show courtesans and attendants in layered kimono with patterned hems, interiors framed by shoji screens and tatami floors, and seasonal props such as a large decorated rice-cake pounding scene, a painted crane, and a lacquered tray. A designer could draw on the dense decorative textile patterns, the flat colour areas over fine black outlines, and the compositional habit of setting figures against open interior walls.

Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art · No known copyright restrictions · More from this library