Dining Bowl with Clematis

1893–97

Seifū Yohei III 三代清風与平

(Japanese, 1851–1914)

Culture

Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)

Medium

Porcelain with underglaze and overglaze colors, molded and incised designs

Measurements

height: 6.9 cm (2 11/16 in.); Diameter: 19 cm (7 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of James and Christine Heusinger 2022.156

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

This bowl shows an environment painted in the round.

Description

The bowl is an especially well-executed example of Yohei III’s work in underglaze blue combined with other underglaze colors.

This low-profile dining bowl has paintings of flowering clematis vines under the glaze in blue and red. Water is depicted with blue in the bottom of the bowl. The lines of white used to show motion on the water’s surface were created using either a reserve technique, where blue was omitted, or a masking technique, where parts of the surface were covered before applying the blue. A pair of butterflies flutters across one side. The foot is decorated with a pattern of spirals in blue, and the lip curves in slightly. The overall effect is one of seeing the flowering vine hanging down, hovering just above the surface of a pond, whose slight disturbances hint at unseen fish swimming below.