The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 19, 2026

A horizontally oriented tan paper is painted with gray and black ink washes depicting a mandarin duck floating on water. The duck turns its head back over its body, and curved ink lines suggest ripples in the water around it. Sweeping brushstrokes form tall reeds that arch from our left. In the lower left corner sits a signature in black ink reading Sesson under a square, red seal reading Shūkei.

Mandarin Duck

1500s

Sesson Shūkei

(Japanese, c. 1492–c. 1577)
Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573)
hanging scroll; ink on paper
Painting only: 30 x 41.4 cm (11 13/16 x 16 5/16 in.); Including mounting: 110 x 58.4 cm (43 5/16 x 23 in.)
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.246
Location: Not on view

Description

In this painting, the artist depicted a scene of a solitary duck floating by reeds in a subtle arrangement of dry and wet, light and dark ink tones which conveys the tranquility of the moment.
  • (Klaus T. Naumann, Tokyo, Japan, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith)
    ?-1985
    The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, ?-1985, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899-1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1985-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1985-present
  • Cunningham, Michael R. “Painting the Poetry of the Natural World.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 7 (September 1988): 279–291. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 286, fig. 8 www.jstor.org
  • A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988).
    Neiman Marcus, Dallas, TX, October 21-November 2, 1974: A Representation of 3,000 Years of The Art of Japan from Mayuyama Collection, no. 15
    Tokyo National Museum, July 1974, Special Exhibition of Sesson
  • {{cite web|title=Mandarin Duck|url=false|author=Sesson Shūkei|year=1500s|access-date=19 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.246