Imported Silk Reeling Machine at Tsukiji in Tokyo
Casper Müller, a Swiss expert based in Yokohama, was employed by the prestigious and financially successful Ono Silk Filature Company to build a modern silk reeling factory in Tokyo. Yoshitora’s complex triptych serves as a precious record of its activities.
The young female workers first empty baskets of cocoons into vats of steaming water, and then locate the thread ends from several cocoons in order to reel them onto a spinning frame.
The young female workers first empty baskets of cocoons into vats of steaming water, and then locate the thread ends from several cocoons in order to reel them onto a spinning frame.
Artwork Details
- 『東京築地舶来ぜんま い大仕かけきぬ糸をとる図』
- Title: Imported Silk Reeling Machine at Tsukiji in Tokyo
- Artist: Utagawa Yoshitora (Japanese, active ca. 1850–80)
- Period: Meiji period (1868–1912)
- Date: 4th month, 1872
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 14 1/2 x 28 3/4 in. (36.8 x 73 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1959
- Object Number: JP3346
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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