Cat Washing Its Face

A cat washing its face at a water basin, its kimono slipped from its shoulders and gathered loosely at the waist — a gesture with an almost human grace, touched with a quiet, coquettish charm. A fleeting moment of anthropomorphized elegance.

This sketch comes from an album of ten original watercolor sketches by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), created around 1850 near the end of the Edo period. Best known for his sweeping landscape prints, Hiroshige here reveals a more private, observational side.

This print is produced on 290 gsm Bamboo Fine Art paper, featuring a warm natural white tone and a softly textured surface for an elegant, refined finish.