Cleveland Museum of Art

Pair of Hexagonal Jars

Date

late 1600s

Medium

porcelain with overglaze color enamel and gold decoration (Hizen ware; Kakiemon type)

Culture

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This kakiemon-type jar with plum design is a product made for the European markets. Here, Japanese kakiemon potters transformed the typical plum, bamboo, and pine motifs into a theme appreciating the plum. The 9th-century Japanese scholar and politician Sugawara Michizane established the plum as a symbol of scholarship. An excellent poet, particularly of Chinese-style poetry, he was also well known for his love of plum blossoms. Later, the plum came to represent tenmangu, a shrine for Sugawara.

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