Did You Know?
Seifū Yohei V was a ceramic painter in a Kyoto factory and later making pots for bonsai, or miniaturized trees, early in his career before becoming head of the Seifu Studio.Description
Bowls for rinsing serving cups, especially sake cups, on the fly are called haisen. This matching pair has a Three Friends of Winter theme below the rim on the inside. In Japan, this motif of pine, bamboo, and plum, or prunus, remains a very popular one in lacquer and textile design. Underglaze blue is used to paint the twisted trunk of the plum, the leaning trunk of the pine, and the garden rock in front of the bamboo. In addition, the pinwheel pine needles are in black on green, as are the bamboo leaves. The stalks and fresh sprouts of bamboo are done in red. Over the underglaze blue, plum branches and flowers are painted in a combination of red outline with wash and yellow. On their exteriors, the bowls have a diamond pattern in underglaze blue as well as red and green overglaze enamels. Within the individual lozenges are a variety of patterns. Some are painted only in blue or red, while others combine one of the two with green. Given their very festive pattern and color, it is a reasonable hypothesis that they were intended for use at New Year’s celebrations. Although for much of his life, circumstances prevented him from producing such works, Yohei V did eventually create some ceramics close to the spirit of those made by earlier generations of the Seifu studio.
