A woman carries a goldfish bowl beneath a draped cloth

A woman glances downward beneath a pale cloth draped loosely over her head and shoulders. She wears a black-and-white checkerboard-patterned robe and holds a round glass bowl by a cord looped over one finger, a single orange goldfish swimming inside it, the only strong colour on the sheet besides her red lips. The rest of the print is left in black outline on cream paper. The artist's vertical signature appears at left, near her shoulder.

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.