Teacup from Teacups with Chinese Landscapes | Cleveland Museum of Art

Teacup from Teacups with Chinese Landscapes

c. 1915–40

Seifū Yohei IV 四代清風与平

(Japanese, 1872–1951)

Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)

One from a set of eleven teacups; porcelain with underglaze blue

Overall: 4 x 6.6 cm (1 9/16 x 2 5/8 in.)

Gift of James and Christine Heusinger 2022.202.2

Location: not on view

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Did You Know?

Seifū Yohei IV produced many works for use in Chinese-style tea gatherings called sencha.

Description

Originally from a set of twelve, each of these eleven sencha teacups has a different landscape wrapped around the body, giving individual cups their own engaging narrative. These paintings are comfortingly familiar in their formulaic qualities, known to any casual fan of ink painting; they are also enjoyable in the way the narratives are revealed as one manipulates the cups. They would be perfect as conversation pieces for a tea gathering.

Four of the cups focus on travelers approaching residences. Two have a person crossing a bridge as their central motif: one man has a backpack, and the other, a cloth-wrapped bundle hanging from a pole slung over his shoulder. Another cup depicts a pair of friends gathered together on rock platforms. A single cup shows a man carrying a furled banner toward a pavilion. The remaining three cups feature people riding in boats: two have literati passengers, and the third is occupied by a fisherman.

Seifu Yohei IV’s training as a painter with Tanomura Shosai (1847–1909), an adoptive son of Tanomura Chokunyu, his father’s painting teacher, is evident in the details of the tiny worlds created on the cups.

Teacup from Teacups with Chinese Landscapes

Teacup from Teacups with Chinese Landscapes

c. 1915–40

Seifū Yohei IV

(Japanese, 1872–1951)

Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)

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