Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "98660",
    "label": "Koto (Zither)",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}

{
    "id": "98660",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Koto (Zither)",
    "description": "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 flowers and miscanthus grass above a brushwood fence as well as a pair of butterflies.",
    "date": "early to mid-1800s",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1918.359",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q79485198"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Musical Instrument"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.359/1918.359_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.359/1918.359_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.359/1918.359_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 117.8 cm (46 3/8 in.); Widest end: 23.8 cm (9 3/8 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)"
    ],
    "accession": "1918.359"
}

{
    "tec": "Wood with colored lacquer, sprinkled gold powder (maki-e), textile, and silk strings",
    "tombstone": "Koto (Zither) (箏), early to mid-1800s. Japan, Edo period (1615–1868). Wood with colored lacquer, sprinkled gold powder (maki-e), textile, and silk strings; overall: 117.8 cm (46 3/8 in.); widest end: 23.8 cm (9 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Charles G. King Jr. collection; Gift of Ralph King in memory of Charles G. King Jr., 1918.359",
    "titleInOriginalLanguage": "箏",
    "collection": "Japanese Art",
    "didYouKnow": "The koto descended from the<em> guzheng</em>, a Chinese zither first imported to Japan in the seventh century.",
    "citations": [
        {
            "citation": "\"Accessions.\" <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 5, no. 8/9 (October 1918): 82–85.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: p. 82",
            "url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136230"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Moore, Douglas S. \"Exhibition of Musical Instruments.\" <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 8, no. 9 (November 1921): 134–143.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 134–137",
            "url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136517"
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1918.359",
    "creditline": "The Charles G. King Jr. collection; Gift of Ralph King in memory of Charles G. King Jr.",
    "updatedAt": "2026-05-29 05:19:38.492000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.359/1918.359_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 98660,
    "dept": "Japanese Art",
    "coll": "Japanese Art",
    "med": "Wood with colored lacquer, sprinkled gold powder (maki-e), textile, and silk strings",
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}

{
    "seq": 1,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.359/1918.359_web.jpg",
    "mediaId": "404a2d3dd22efac2"
}