Cleveland Museum of Art

Koto

Date

early to mid-1800s

Medium

Wood with colored lacquer, sprinkled gold powder (maki-e), glass, textile and cord

Culture

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This koto has an elaborately decorated surface, suggesting that it was meant to be admired as a decorative object rather than played as a musical instrument. The vertical design shows a profusion of chrysanthemum and miscanthus grass above a brushwood fence as well as a pair of butterflies. The koto descended from the guzheng , a Chinese zither first imported to Japan in the seventh century.

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