Murasaki Shikibu: Bird, Utamaro Color Woodblock Print

A woman in a patterned purple kimono with a dark lacquered hairpiece leans over a yellow bamboo birdcage set in a wooden tub, reaching toward the small bird inside. Vertical lines of calligraphy and a red seal appear at the upper left, and the artist's signature sits at right on a pale ground.

Artist

Kitagawa Utamaro

Date

c. 1805

Medium

Color woodblock print; oban

Source

Art Institute of Chicago

Size

1686 × 2563 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Art Institute of Chicago, Clarence Buckingham Collection