Collecting the Larvae of Silkworms, plate I from Raising Silkworms

From a series of prints showing the stages of silk production, this print shows the first stage. Two women use feathers to gently brush the silkworm eggs onto trays. When the eggs hatch, the larvae are fed mulberry leaves. The larvae then spin threads to create cocoons. People then unwrap the delicate threads of the cocoons to weave into silk textiles.

Katsukawa Shunshō had a long and successful career as a print designer, from the beginning of full-color prints in the 1760s through the 1780s. He also trained many students, the most celebrated being Katsukawa Shunrō 春朗, who is better known by his later name Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎, the designer of the famous series Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji.