Plate

Cleveland Museum of Art

The plate, by artist Namikawa, depicts four people. The central figure sits cross-legged wearing a blue head covering, with gold accents on a blue base, and a dress with a blue and gold pattern on a red base. Two people on either side of the central figure wear similar gold-accented head coverings on their heads. All four people have white face paint with black designs around their eyes and foreheads. The sitting people wear traditional Japanese clothing featuring various patterns on their kimonos, predominantly using shades of green, red, orange and brown. Gold accents outline the clothing and hair of each person. The background of the plate is dark brown with gold swirling patterns on the lower half. A row of brown waves are accented with gold at their tops. A gold background behind all four figures features an area of orange and green. A dark gradient fills the background.