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About the Artwork
Here, a person steps out to the engawa, a wood-floored corridor that runs along the outer edge of a house, to greet a visitor as the individual’s companions look on. A strong breeze blows the sleeves of their robes and the translucent blinds enclosing their sitting room. The group’s wealth and high status is signified by the two swords the visitor carries and everyone’s intricately patterned garments. A raised blind lets the viewer peek in to see a black lacquer box decorated with designs in gold powder and a ceramic incense burner on a hexagonal lacquer tray positioned carefully in the room’s display alcove, or toko.
Inscriptions
artist's signature and seal, lower right corner.
Provenance
? by 1923–?: Takeoka Toyota 武岡豐太 [1864–1931], Kobe, Japan ?–1976: (Hosomi Ryo 細見良 [1901–1978], Osaka, Japan, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith) 1976–1985: The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1985–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988). Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998). Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2004-April 10, 2005). Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 27-August 23, 2009). Admired from Afar: Masterworks of Japanese Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (January 15-February 23, 2014); Kyushu National Museum, Fukuoka, Japan (July 8-August 31, 2014). Highlights of Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 7, 2025-June 14, 2026).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Tamura Suio (Japanese, active late 1600s–early 1700s)
- Date
- late 1600s–early 1700s
- Medium
- Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions
- Painting: 50.4 x 82.2 cm (19 13/16 x 32 3/8 in.); Mounted: 155.2 x 97.7 cm (61 1/8 x 38 7/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Japanese Art
- Credit line
- The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith
- Accession no.
- 1985.275
More by Tamura Suio in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009793
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