{
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"id": 98660,
"accession_number": "1918.359",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Koto (Zither) (\u7b8f), early to mid-1800s. Japan, Edo period (1615\u20131868). 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",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Koto (Zither)",
"title_in_original_language": "\u7b8f",
"creation_date": "early to mid-1800s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1800,
"creation_date_latest": 1868,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Japan, Edo period (1615\u20131868)"
],
"technique": "Wood with colored lacquer, sprinkled gold powder (maki-e), textile, and silk strings",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Japanese Art",
"collection": "Japanese Art",
"type": "Musical Instrument",
"measurements": "Overall: 117.8 cm (46 3/8 in.); Widest end: 23.8 cm (9 3/8 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"length": 1.178,
"length_inch": 46,
"length_inch_fraction": 0.375
},
"widest end": {
"length": 0.238,
"length_inch": 9,
"length_inch_fraction": 0.375
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 687098,
"title": "Practice and Play in Japanese Art",
"description": "Practice and Play in Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-November 30, 2025).",
"opening_date": "2025-06-20T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Ralph King [1855\u20131926], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "?\u20131918",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "1918\u2013",
"sortorder": 2
}
],
"find_spot": null,
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"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "The koto descended from the guzheng, a Chinese zither first imported to Japan in the seventh century.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"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.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79485198"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1918.359-sono-koto"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "\"Accessions.\" The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 5, no. 8/9 (October 1918): 82\u201385.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 82",
"url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136230"
},
{
"citation": "Moore, Douglas S. \"Exhibition of Musical Instruments.\" The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 8, no. 9 (November 1921): 134\u2013143.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 134\u2013137",
"url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136517"
}
],
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"creditline": "The Charles G. King Jr. collection; Gift of Ralph King in memory of Charles G. King Jr.",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
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"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 98660,
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"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1918-06-24T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1800,
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"date_text": "early to mid-1800s",
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"alternate_titles": [
"Sono Koto"
],
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"updated_at": "2026-05-29 05:19:38.492000"
}
}