Artwork Page for Koto from the series The Six Arts in Fashionable Guise

Details / Information for Koto from the series The Six Arts in Fashionable Guise

Koto from the series The Six Arts in Fashionable Guise

c. 1793–96

Chōbunsai Eishi 鳥文斎栄之

(Japanese, 1756–1829)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
Color woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Measurements
Sheet: 36.6 x 25 cm (14 7/16 x 9 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.301
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Chinese classical education consisted of the Six Arts: performing rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics. The Chinese qin, a stringed musical instrument in the zither family, customarily symbolizes the art of music. In this print a similar Japanese instrument, the koto, replaces the qin. The fashionable Japanese entertainer playing it stands in for an accomplished Chinese scholar.
A vertically oriented woodblock print depicts a woman with light skin tone kneeling on a rug and leaning right over a long stringed instrument. She wears a maroon kimono featuring floral patterns, her dark hair pinned with flowers. A screen with floral motifs stands at our left. To our right, a tall stand holds a white vessel. In the upper right corner, Japanese calligraphy and a circular floral motif occupy the space.

Koto from the series The Six Arts in Fashionable Guise

c. 1793–96

Chōbunsai Eishi

(Japanese, 1756–1829)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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