Artwork
行水|Bathtime (Gyōzui)
行水|Bathtime (Gyōzui) is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Kitagawa Utamaro. It dates from 1801 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The child is depicted with a kanzashi hair ornament and geta sandals, while the mother holds a tenugui cloth and stands beside a wash basin.
The print shows a mother washing her young child in a domestic setting, emphasizing intimate daily care. The child is depicted with a kanzashi hair ornament and geta sandals, while the mother holds a tenugui cloth and stands beside a wash basin. Symbolic accessories such as a comb and hair tie underscore traditional grooming practices.
The scene reflects contemporary Edo-period ideals of maternal nurturing and household routine, rendered through meticulous detail characteristic of ukiyo-e portraiture.
Technique & Style
Bathtime (Gyōzui) is a woodblock print executed in ink and color on paper, a technique characteristic of the ukiyo-e genre to which the work belongs. The sheet measures 37.3 cm in height by 25.1 cm in width, presented in a vertical format suited to its intimate domestic subject. The composition focuses on a bathing scene, with the mother, child, and surrounding objects, including a wash basin, comb, kanzashi, geta, and tenugui, rendered through the layered printing process typical of early nineteenth-century Japanese woodblock production.
Utamaro's handling of the medium allows for fine linear definition in the figures and textiles while the application of color modulates the tonal range across the paper support.
No specific condition report is documented in the available sources.
History & Provenance
The woodblock print Bathtime (Gyōzui) by Kitagawa Utamaro is dated to 1801 based on its inscription and stylistic features, aligning with the artist’s late period output.
The work entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is currently held. Its dimensions are recorded as 37.3 cm in height and 25.1 cm in width, executed on paper with ink and color, consistent with ukiyo-e techniques of the time.
Overview
Kitagawa Utamoro’s woodblock print, titled 行水 (Gyōzui, “Bathtime”), dates from around 1801. Executed in ink and color on paper, the image captures a domestic scene of a woman assisting a child during a bath, rendered in the delicate style characteristic of early‑19th‑century Japanese prints.
Context
During the Edo era, bathing rituals held both hygienic and social significance, especially for families. Prints like Gyōzui offered viewers a glimpse into these private rituals, reflecting broader cultural values of modesty, familial duty, and the aesthetic appreciation of mundane tasks.
Artist & collection
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The Bath
The Chofu Tama River in Musashi Province (from the series The Six Tama Rivers of the Floating World)
The Bath
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当世風俗通 女房風|Mother and Child
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Compared in the Edo/Japonisme course