Cleveland Museum of Art

Vase with Peonies

Seifū Yohei III

Date

1900–1914

Medium

Porcelain with molded and carved design and pink-infused cream glaze

Culture

Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This flower vase has a creamy white glaze infused with pink. Sadly, the box has been lost, so we cannot know how it was described by the studio. However, through comparison with other works, it is possible to surmise that the work can be categorized as kanpakuji with in-glaze pink. A single huge blossom shoots up into the widest part of the vessel, near the top, so it will be visible from a distance. If this design is displayed in a space with a decorative alcove located some distance away from the entrance, even at a remove, it can announce the taste of its owner and immediately please a guest. On the other side of the vase, two butterflies, their wings overlapping, flit through the sky. One of Seifū Yohei III’s most visually impactful techniques was to combine complex low-relief designs in clay surrounded by diffused underglaze blue or pink, which he then covered with a transparent or translucent glaze.

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