The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Koto from the series The Six Arts in Fashionable Guise

c. 1793–96

Chōbunsai Eishi

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

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.
  • Ronald Guthrie McNair Scott [1904 or 1906–1995], consigned to Glendining & Co for sale
    April 1, 1960
    (Glendining & Co., London, England, April 1, 1960 sale, lot 46)
    ?–1972
    Hans Popper [1904–1971], consigned to Sotheby Parke Bernet for sale
    October 5, 1972
    (Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, NY. "The Hans Popper collection of Japanese prints," October 5, 1972 sale, lot 142)
    Eugene V. Thaw [1927–2018], New York, NY, to Kelvin and Eleanor Smith
    ?–1985
    The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1985–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “A. Kelvin Smith (1899-1984): Collector.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 7 (September 1988): 240–243. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 241-242 www.jstor.org
  • Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation - September 2016-January 2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 19, 2016-January 8, 2017).
    Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 7, 1993-January 2, 1994).
    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).
    Cleveland Museum of Art, 1988: A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection.
  • {{cite web|title=Koto from the series The Six Arts in Fashionable Guise|url=false|author=Chōbunsai Eishi|year=c. 1793–96|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.301