Woman and Child

ca. 1794–95

Not on view

In this playful picture, a young boy points at his mother’s open legs. The dark green lacquered obi attracts the eye and directs it to the oddly placed still life in the foreground. The green fruit, the child’s raised leg and suggestive gesture, and the mother’s sleepy gaze hint that the artist may have intended an erotic reading or perhaps a metaphor for childbirth.

Artwork Details

喜多川歌麿画　母と子
Title: Woman and Child
Artist: Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, ca. 1754–1806)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: ca. 1794–95
Culture: Japan
Medium: Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: 14 7/8 x 10 in. (37.8 x 25.4 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Henry L. Phillips Collection; Bequest of Henry L. Phillips, 1939
Object Number: JP2812
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Kitagawa Utamaro

In the same medium

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“Preparing Food for the Warbler,” from the album Men’s Stamping Dance (Otoko dōka, uguisu no esa suri)

, Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese, Page from a woodblock printed book; ink and color on paper, Japan — “Preparing Food for the Warbler,” from the album Men’s Stamping Dance (Otoko dōka, uguisu no esa suri)
Kitagawa Utamaro
1798

The Lady Tomimoto Toyohina Reading a Letter, Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — The Lady Tomimoto Toyohina Reading a Letter
Kitagawa Utamaro
1790

Women Preparing Sashimi, Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Women Preparing Sashimi
Kitagawa Utamaro
1806–20

In the Kitchen, Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese, Right-hand sheet of a diptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper, Japan — In the Kitchen
Kitagawa Utamaro
ca. 1794–95

Girl Fishers and Bathers, Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese, Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper, Japan — Girl Fishers and Bathers
Kitagawa Utamaro
1791

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