Picture Book of Crawling Creatures (The Insect Book) (Ehon mushi erami)
A Japanese woodblock picture book of insects, published in 1823 and attributed to Kitagawa Utamaro, who died in 1806, so the designs are earlier work reissued for a general reading public. The pages show insects drawn in soft outline and pale wash on warm paper, with a wasp, a caterpillar, and a butterfly against vine foliage and small flowers. A designer could take its economical line work, muted palette of blue-grey and peach, and the way the insects are placed in open, asymmetric compositions.
