Artwork

The Sixth Month (from the series The Twelve Felicitous Months in Edo Brocades)

The Sixth Month (from the series The Twelve Felicitous Months in Edo Brocades) is a print by the Romanticist artist Utagawa Toyokuni I. It dates from 1794 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

About this work

Overview

Created around 1794 by the prolific ukiyo‑e artist Utagawa Toyokuni, this woodblock print depicts the sixth month in his series The Twelve Felicitous Months in Edo Brocades. The work is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection and presents a domestic interior rendered in the characteristic flat colour and line of late‑eighteenth‑century Japanese prints.

Subject & Meaning

The scene shows a woman dressed in a dark kimono patterned with white motifs, standing on a tiled floor while cradling an infant swaddled in red. A cat arches its back near a basket, and a small fan is tucked into the woman’s sleeve. A window in the green‑hued wall reveals foliage, suggesting a quiet, everyday moment in an Edo household.

Technique & Style

Toyokuni employed the multicolour nishiki-e method, using separate carved blocks for each hue to achieve the contrasting black, white, red, and green areas. The composition balances linear detail—such as the woman’s high‑styled hair and the cat’s sinuous form—with broad washes of colour, typical of the late Edo period’s decorative brocade aesthetic.

History & Provenance

The print entered the Cleveland Museum of Art’s holdings through acquisition in the twentieth century, joining a broader collection of Japanese prints that document the city’s visual culture. Its attribution to Toyokuni is supported by stylistic analysis and the artist’s signature, confirming its place within his prolific output of genre scenes.

Context

The Twelve Felicitous Months series celebrates each month’s seasonal activities and domestic rituals in Edo, the former name for Tokyo. By focusing on a modest interior rather than a grand landscape, the sixth‑month print reflects the period’s interest in everyday life and the subtle changes of season observable within the home.