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Source Description

Like the design of <em>Flower Vase with Phoenix in Paulownia</em> (<a href="http://www.clevelandart.org/art/2022.199">CMA 2022.199</a>), the pair of pheasants in a dramatic landscape setting on this vase was created by adding clay to the surface of the clay body and then molding and carving it. Here, instead of a typical white clay, Yohei III has used an ivory clay. He then added gradated pink around the complex design, which with its multitude of cherry blossoms must have been painstaking to mask with precision. For the birds’ eyes, he added a touch of yellow. He then fired the vase with an allover translucent cream glaze. The resulting <em>kanpakuji</em> piece is one in which an academic subject long favored by painters of the Kano school for screen and sliding door paintings in important buildings, that of impressively sized birds within a scene of precipitous, angled rock faces and twisting trees, is made soft and ethereal while retaining a sense of gravitas.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
454915
label
Pheasants in Cherry
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
454915
contentType
object
title
Pheasants in Cherry
description
Like the design of <em>Flower Vase with Phoenix in Paulownia</em> (<a href="http://www.clevelandart.org/art/2022.199">CMA 2022.199</a>), the pair of pheasants in a dramatic landscape setting on this vase was created by adding clay to the surface of the clay body and then molding and carving it. Here, instead of a typical white clay, Yohei III has used an ivory clay. He then added gradated pink around the complex design, which with its multitude of cherry blossoms must have been painstaking to mask with precision. For the birds’ eyes, he added a touch of yellow. He then fired the vase with an allover translucent cream glaze. The resulting <em>kanpakuji</em> piece is one in which an academic subject long favored by painters of the Kano school for screen and sliding door paintings in important buildings, that of impressively sized birds within a scene of precipitous, angled rock faces and twisting trees, is made soft and ethereal while retaining a sense of gravitas.
date
1900–1914
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
creators
299428
genreSpecific
Ceramic
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
height: 39 cm (15 3/8 in.); Diameter: 28.5 cm (11 1/4 in.)
cul
Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)
accession
2024.36
Source extras
tec
Porcelain with molded and carved design, underglaze color, and cream glaze
tombstone
Pheasants in Cherry, 1900–1914. Seifū Yohei III (Japanese, 1851–1914). Porcelain with molded and carved design, underglaze color, and cream glaze; height: 39 cm (15 3/8 in.); diameter: 28.5 cm (11 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund, 2024.36
collection
Japanese Art
inscriptions
inscription
大日本清風造
inscription_translation
Inscription inscribed on the base: Made by Seifū of Great Japan [Dai Nihon Seifū zō]
inscription_remark
The glaze on the area around the base inscription was left thin so that the incised text would remain legible after firing.
sortorder
1
inscription
清風製之
inscription_translation
Box lid inscription: Seifū made this
sortorder
2
inscription
清風
inscription_translation
The appropriated box (awase bako) has seal reading Seifū of a type used by Seifū Yohei IV
sortorder
3
didYouKnow
The unusually large scale of this piece and the fact that he signed the base “Made by Seifū of Great Japan” also suggest that it was made for public display.
citations
citation
Maezaki, Shinya and Sinéad Vilbar. <em>Colors of Kyoto</em>: <em>The Seifū Yohei Ceramic Studio</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 140–143, cat. no. 56
creditline
Dudley P. Allen Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 09:04:38.976000
sourceId
454915
dept
Japanese Art
coll
Japanese Art
med
Porcelain with molded and carved design, underglaze color, and cream glaze
creatorTags
male
Asian (from 1900 to present)
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
b2b7e05443850413