Plate with Tiger in Bamboo

c. 1700

Plate with Tiger in Bamboo, c. 1700. Japan, Edo period (1615-1868). Porcelain with overglaze color enamels (Hizen ware, Arita type); diameter: 21.1 cm (8 5/16 in.); overall: 3.3 cm (1 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Collection 1964.256 This plate expresses an effective coupling of physical form and painted ornament. The artist bent the bamboo stalks on the right and the minimal landscape below to fit the contours of the dish. The tiger is drawn in long, fluid brushstrokes and filled with yellow overglaze enamel, conveying the hairy and striped nature of a tiger’s fur.