Figure of a cat

Label Text

In nineteenth-century Japan, the cat was an occasional companion of courtesans and, in art, suggestive of willfulness, stealth, and eroticism. In the Peacock Room, Freer placed this figure on the mantel alongside a number of earth-toned tea bowls and beneath Whistler's La Princesse du pays de la porcelain, which depicts the Anglo-Greek beauty Christina Spartali in Japanese robes, surrounded by a variety of decorative objects from China and Japan.

Object Name

Figure

Ware

Probably Kyoto ware

Dated

19th century

Period

Edo period or Meiji era

Medium

Earthenware with iron pigment under clear lead glaze

Dimensions

HxWxD: 2.9 x 5.5 x 3.4 cm

City

Probably Kyoto

Country

Japan

Credit Line

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Iteration

2

Shelf Number

28.1

Wall

North

Title

Figure of a cat

Object Number

F1897.33

Freer Source

Matsuki Bunkyo

Freer Source City

Boston

Freer Source State

Massachusetts

Freer Source Country

United States

Image

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1897.33.jpg

Collection

Citation

"Figure of a cat," in The Peacock Room, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Accession No. F1897.33, Item #3108, http://www.peacockroom.wayne.edu/items/show/3108 (accessed March 29, 2024).