Cleveland Museum of Art

Standing Figure of a Beauty

Date

c. 1690

Medium

Porcelain with overglaze color enamels (Hizen ware, Kakiemon type)

Culture

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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

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