Musk Cat

Uto Gyoshi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A fluffy black-and-white musk cat pauses beside a blooming red camellia on a late winter day, doing its best to ignore the agitated titmouse on a willow bough above him. Although not native to Japan, musk cats (jakōneko), or civets, were known in Japan through early Chinese paintings that were imported beginning in the 1200s. These nocturnal, feline mammals became a favorite subject of artists affiliated with the formidable Kano school, established in Kyoto in the late 1400s. A large square seal at lower right names the painter of thiswork as Uto Gyoshi, an obscure figure who is thought to have been affiliated with a satellite Kano studio in the eastern castle town of Odawara.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art