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Karl Walser: Japanese Musician with Kokyū, 1908 — Porcelain Art Mug
Karl Walser: Japanese Musician with Kokyū, 1908 — Porcelain Art Mug
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A woman kneels with the kokyu, the small bowed instrument of the Japanese stage, held upright on her knee. Karl Walser drew the pose in pencil and let the colour fall in afterwards, in patches that never quite fill the outline - which is why the kimono still moves.
He was in Japan for half a year in 1908, in Yokohama, Tokyo, Kyoto, Ise and Miyazu, and filled sketchbooks with dancers and musicians, watching them from the floor of the room rather than from a seat in a theatre.
Walser is being rediscovered in Japan right now: a retrospective of some 150 works opened at the Tokyo Station Gallery in April 2026 and runs at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, until 27 September 2026.
Fine porcelain, 10 oz - 104 mm high, 75 mm across the base. The image runs around the body; handle and rim stay white. Dishwasher and microwave safe.
Karl Walser (1877-1943), Japanese Musician with Kokyu, 1908. Collotype plate from Bernhard Kellermann, Sassa yo Yassa. Japanische Taenze, Paul Cassirer, Berlin 1920. Public domain.
Selected by Dr. Walther Fuchs
