No. 6 (roku), from the series "Women Engaged in the Sericulture Industry (Joshoku kaiko tewaza-gusa)"

Art Historical Context

Kitagawa Utamaro’s “No. 6 (roku)” belongs to his celebrated series “Women Engaged in the Sericulture Industry,” created around 1798–1800. A leading master of ukiyo-e, Utamaro specialized in bijin-ga—images of beautiful women—yet here he turned his attention to the daily labor of silk production. The print portrays women at one stage of the intricate process that transformed silkworm cocoons into luxurious thread, underscoring the vital economic role of female workers in late-Edo Japan. Produced as a color woodblock print in the large oban format, the work exemplifies the refined printing techniques of the period, with delicate lines, subtle gradations of color, and careful attention to textile patterns and tools. Such prints were affordable and widely circulated, allowing urban audiences to appreciate both the aesthetic grace of the figures and the cultural importance of sericulture, an industry central to Japan’s economy and its trade with the wider world. Today, this impression in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection offers a vivid glimpse into the intersection of art, labor, and femininity in eighteenth-century Japan. Utamaro elevates an ordinary workshop scene into an image of quiet dignity and collective industry, reminding viewers of the often-unseen hands behind one of the era’s most treasured commodities.

About the Artist

Kitagawa Utamaro · 1753–1806

Kitagawa Utamaro (c. 1753-1806) was one of the most celebrated masters of ukiyo-e woodblock printing, revolutionizing the art of bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women) during Japan's Edo period. Born Kitagawa Ichitaro, his early life remains shrouded in mystery, with conflicting accounts placing his birth in Kyoto, Osaka, Yoshiwara in Edo (modern Tokyo), or Kawagoe in Musashi Province. Under the t...