A woman with unbound hair and gold pins holds a strip of cloth

A woman with long unbound black hair gazes sideways, several gold hairpins fanned across the crown of her head. She wears a mauve robe patterned with cherry blossoms, its edge banded in coral red with a scrolling floral pattern, and holds a strip of white cloth at the lower edge. A brushed signature and a round black seal sit beside her hair. A small fan-shaped inset at the upper right shows a river landscape with a fence, a tree and tiny figures. From the series Six Jewel Rivers.

Kitagawa Utamaro (c. 1753–1806) defined the ukiyo-e portrait of women. Working with the publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō in the 1790s, he introduced the ōkubi-e, or large-head print, which brought the viewer close enough to read a glance or a gesture, and he gave the beauties of the Yoshiwara district individual faces and names. Mica grounds, transparent textiles and fine line work made his prints the most refined of their day. His work is held by the British Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Printed as a museum-grade giclée on Hahnemühle fine art paper using 12-ink archival pigment printing. Available handframed in FSC-certified wood with optional float glass, or unframed. Ships worldwide with free delivery to 30+ countries.