Picture Book on Flowers of the Four Seasons (Ehon shiki no hana) : [volume 1]
This is a woodblock-printed illustrated album by Kitagawa Utamaro, published in Edo (Tokyo) in 1801 by Izumiya Ichibei for a general readership of urban pleasure and fashion. The double-page spreads show elegant women in seasonal settings, with pale grounds, fine outlines and soft colour washes. A designer might take from them the restrained palette of muted ochres, greens and indigo, and the way figures are grouped in loose diagonals across the page.
![Picture 1 of 7 from Picture Book on Flowers of the Four Seasons (Ehon shiki no hana) : [volume 1] (1801), leaf 3](https://img.insideoutlibrary.com/img/200/met-p16028coll7_17878-3-1.webp)
![Picture 2 of 7 from Picture Book on Flowers of the Four Seasons (Ehon shiki no hana) : [volume 1] (1801), leaf 4](https://img.insideoutlibrary.com/img/200/met-p16028coll7_17878-4-1.webp)
![Picture 3 of 7 from Picture Book on Flowers of the Four Seasons (Ehon shiki no hana) : [volume 1] (1801), leaf 5](https://img.insideoutlibrary.com/img/200/met-p16028coll7_17878-5-1.webp)
![Picture 4 of 7 from Picture Book on Flowers of the Four Seasons (Ehon shiki no hana) : [volume 1] (1801), leaf 6](https://img.insideoutlibrary.com/img/200/met-p16028coll7_17878-6-1.webp)
![Picture 5 of 7 from Picture Book on Flowers of the Four Seasons (Ehon shiki no hana) : [volume 1] (1801), leaf 9](https://img.insideoutlibrary.com/img/200/met-p16028coll7_17878-9-1.webp)
![Picture 6 of 7 from Picture Book on Flowers of the Four Seasons (Ehon shiki no hana) : [volume 1] (1801), leaf 10](https://img.insideoutlibrary.com/img/200/met-p16028coll7_17878-10-1.webp)
![Picture 7 of 7 from Picture Book on Flowers of the Four Seasons (Ehon shiki no hana) : [volume 1] (1801), leaf 11](https://img.insideoutlibrary.com/img/200/met-p16028coll7_17878-11-1.webp)