The Floating World

Ten Types in the Physiognomic Study of Women (Fujin sōgaku juttai)

Woman Reading a Letter

Fumi yomu onna

Kitagawa Utamaro · c. 1792–93

What it is

A woman holds a letter close to her face, utterly absorbed — the world outside its lines gone.

Why it matters

The series claimed, half in jest, to read women’s characters like a physiognomist; what it actually did was make inner life the subject of a print, and Tsutaya published it on shimmering mica as if attention itself were a luxury good.

What to notice

There is no background at all — only bare mica — so the whole drama rides on the grip of her hands and the few loose hairs the carver cut free of the coiffure.

Whatever the letter says, it is hers alone.

The record

Artist
Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川歌麿 (1753–1806)
Series
Ten Types in the Physiognomic Study of Women (Fujin sōgaku juttai)
Date
c. 1792–93
Publisher
Tsutaya Jūzaburō
Medium
woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Source
The Art Institute of Chicago · 1942.119
  • kirazuri

Impression note. Printed on a white mica ground whose sheen survives unevenly between sheets; fine impressions keep the mica field intact and the delicate grey half-tones of the letter paper. 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.

From the same series

Takashima Ohisa — Kitagawa UtamaroKitagawa UtamaroTakashima OhisaKitagawa Utamaro · c. 1793Naniwaya Okita — Kitagawa UtamaroKitagawa UtamaroNaniwaya OkitaKitagawa Utamaro · c. 1793Ōtani Oniji III as the Yakko Edobei — Tōshūsai SharakuTōshūsai SharakuŌtani Oniji III as the Yakko EdobeiTōshūsai Sharaku · 1794 (Kansei 6, 5th month)Ichikawa Ebizō as Takemura Sadanoshin — Tōshūsai SharakuTōshūsai SharakuIchikawa Ebizō as Takemura SadanoshinTōshūsai Sharaku · 1794 (Kansei 6, 5th month)

The road at your moment — Painted Earth’s ukiyo-e style pack.