Evening Cicada, Higurashi; Spider, Kumo, from the Picture Book of Crawling Creatures (Ehon mushi erami)
Original title: Evening Cicada, Higurashi; Spider, Kumo, from the Picture Book of Crawling Creatures (Ehon mushi erami)
kurzbeschreibung
This double-page spread comes from Kitagawa Utamaro's woodblock-printed book Ehon mushi erami, published in 1788. It shows two corn plants with insects, printed in ink and color on paper.
Description
A yellow ear of corn gleams among leaves in various shades of green on the left page; a small brown insect sits on top. On the right, another insect has settled on a leaf, and beside it a delicate brown spiderweb stretches across the paper. A narrow black frame surrounds both pages, and on the left are Chinese characters, likely a title or description.
Context
Ehon mushi erami was published in 1788 in Edo, present-day Tokyo, and is considered one of the most important natural-history picture books of the Edo period. Utamaro, otherwise known for portraits of women, devoted himself here to insects and plants—a genre that benefited from the growing interest in nature observation among educated circles. The book appeared as a woodblock edition with several color gradations.
Impact
The arrangement feels calm and precise; despite their smallness, the insects remain clearly recognizable and true to life. Botanical accuracy and decorative design come together in a way that gives the pages something scientific and at the same time aesthetic.
Technique
The page was printed by woodblock, with several color blocks used for the greens of the leaves and the yellow of the corn ear. The delicate lines of the insects and the spiderweb testify to the high precision of eighteenth-century Japanese color woodblock printing.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)