The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Standing Figure of a Beauty

c. 1690

Japan, Edo period

(1615–1868)
Porcelain with overglaze color enamels (Hizen ware, Kakiemon type)
Overall: 38 cm (14 15/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1964.366
Location: 235A Japanese

Did You Know?

Look closely! One of this fashionable woman's feet is peeking out from under her layered kimono.

Description

Dressed in layered robes and a jacketlike garment called an uchikake with a lively floral design, figures such as this one may have derived from dolls formed in the likeness of courtesans. It was produced in Hizen Province (in present-day Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyushu) by the Sakaida family of ceramists, the head of which has gone by the first name Kakiemon for many generations. As a result, the studio’s historical works are known as Kakiemon ware. The studio is distinguished for being among the earliest in Japan to use multicolor overglaze enamel and for the milky white of its porcelain.
  • ?–1964
    (Setsu Inosuke 濑津伊之助 [1897–1969], Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1964–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 285 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “Golden Anniversary Acquisition,” 1966, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Stechow, Wolfgang. "Cleveland's Golden Anniversary Acquisitions." Artnews 65, no. 5 (September 1966): 30–64.
    Published as: An Ukiyo-e Beauty Reproduced: p. 34; Mentioned: p. 63
    Lerner, Martin. “Tea-Ceremony Pottery and Export Porcelain.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 54, no. 9 (November 1967): 267–278, 290-292B. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 276–278, fig. 6, Back Cover www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 285 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 387 archive.org
    Neils, Jenifer. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 154–155, no. 158; Reproduced: Color plate after p. 150
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 244
  • Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 2-July 9, 2018).
    Japanese Art Rotation (Gallery 236). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 19-December 24, 2013).
    Later Japanese Art Gallery Rotation (Gallery 113). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 18-November 17, 2004).
    Later Japanese Art Gallery Rotation (Gallery 113). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 20-May 6, 2003).
    The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-August 22, 1982).
    Ukiyo-e: Floating World. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 11-September 2, 1973).
    200 Years of Japanese Porcelain. Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (organizer) (October 9-November 15, 1970); The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (December 3-27, 1970).
    Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-October 16, 1966).
  • {{cite web|title=Standing Figure of a Beauty|url=false|author=|year=c. 1690|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.366