A CÉLADON GLAZED 'SANDA' PORCELAIN FIGURE OF THE POET KAKINOMOTO NO HITOMAROJapan, HyÅgo prefecture, 19th centuryThe poet sitting with his right arm on an elbow rest and his left hand on the corresponding knee, wearing a wide dress fastened at the waist, his face with a sharp and smiling expression with beard and mustache, on his head a court hat, the external surface with a céladon glaze, the face and hands in biscuit, ancient collection inventory's numbers inscription inside.23 x 26,5 x 15,2 cmProvenance: Italian private collection.Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (circa 653-circa 710) has been one of the greatest poets in Japanese history. His verses, still well known and appreciated today, appear in major classical anthologies, including the Man'yÅshÅ«, dating back to the second half of the eighth century.The origins of the production of the Sanda kilns are located around the middle of the Edo period. From the beginning of the nineteenth century they distinguished themselves for artifacts - containers and figures - covered with a céladon glaze.A sculpture very similar to this, attributed to KinkodÅ Kamesuke (1765–1837), is in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, gift of Sir William Van Horne (1843-1915) (inv. 909.22.90).