The Floating World
Naniwaya Okita
難波屋おきた · Naniwaya Okita
Kitagawa Utamaro · c. 1793
What it is
Okita of the Naniwaya, the teahouse waitress by the Asakusa temple gate, carrying a cup of tea toward a customer who is, forever, you.
Why it matters
Men ordered tea they did not want just to be near her; prints like this told the rest of Japan why — the image sold the teahouse and the teahouse sold the image.
What to notice
Utamaro gives her the same ideal face as every beauty he drew; it is the teacup, the crest, and the printed name that make her Okita — identity carried by attributes, not likeness.
The tea has cooled for two hundred years. She is still mid-step.
The record
- Artist
- Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川歌麿 (1753–1806)
- Date
- c. 1793
- Medium
- woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Source
- The Art Institute of Chicago · 1925.3064
Impression note. A design whose charm lives in its fugitive colors — the pink of the lips and the soft tones of the kimono fade unevenly between sheets, and fine impressions keep the fresh contrast of black coiffure against pale face. Impression variance is real — printings differ in wiping and fading — and choosing the finest openly held impression is the curatorial act.
Public domain; faithfully reproduced.
Bring it home
Printed to order on EMA matte art paper, 200gsm.
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