Picture Book of the Hitachi Obi (Enpon futahashira) : [volume 1]

Kitagawa, Utamaro, 1753?-1806 · 1803 · Japan : [producer not identified] · 4 pictures

A Japanese woodblock picture book, volume 1 of the Hitachi Obi series, made by the ukiyo-e artist Kitagawa Utamaro around 1803 and published in Japan for a general readership of urban pleasure-seekers. Its pages are ink line drawings of domestic interiors, dancers in patterned costume, and cranes beside handwritten calligraphy, with minimal shading. A designer could draw on its economical contour line, flat patterned textiles, and the way text panels sit beside images on facing pages.

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