Kitagawa Utamaro, Beauty Blowing a BIDORO Glass Toy, ca. 1792–1793

A colorful woodblock print depicting a young woman playing with a bidoro—a thin-walled glass toy that emits a delicate, distinctive crackling sound when air is blown into or sucked out of it. The woman wears an elaborate Takashimada hairstyle and a patterned kimono, whose intense red contrasts with the light, almost empty background.
The composition is from Kitagawa Utamara’s famous series *Fujin sōgaku jittai* (“Ten Physiognomic Types of Women”), published at the beginning of the Kansei era. The artist treated his depictions of women as character studies, capturing subtle differences in facial features, gestures, and demeanor. The bidoro toy, popular during the Edo period, was sold in inexpensive shops selling sweets and small items.
The restrained composition, elegant lines, and decorative arrangement of fabric patterns are characteristic of Utamaro’s mature work. This image is among the most recognizable depictions of feminine beauty in the art of Japanese woodblock printing.
Original Artist: Kitagawa Utamaro (c. 1753–1806)
Title: Beauty Blowing into a Glass Toy (Bidoro o fuku musume)
Series: Fujin sōgaku jittai – “Ten Physiognomic Types of Women”
Date of the original woodblock: ca. 1792–1793
This piece: a later print/reissue based on an Edo-period woodblock
Dimensions: woodblock print: 25.7 x 38.2 cm, mat: 33.5 x 48.5 cm