Cleveland Museum of Art

Vase with Dragon Roundels

Seifū Yohei III

Date

1900–1914

Medium

Porcelain with purple glaze and molded and carved design

Culture

Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Each side of this lavender-colored vase is nearly covered with a low-relief design of a four-clawed dragon curled around a flaming jewel. The box lid carries an attestation by Yohei IV that the vase was produced by his predecessor, and the signature on the base is one Yohei III used later in his career. The lid also makes reference to Jun (J. Kin) ware, which was made in numerous kilns in what is now Yuzhou or Yuxian in Henan Province, China, during the Northern Song dynasty. Some Jun wares had an opalescent purple glaze, which was clearly the inspiration for the color seen on this vase. Kyoto-based Japanese ceramist Seifū Yohei III (1851–1914) admired the glaze colors found on Chinese porcelain and tried to replicate them through intensive experimentation.

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