Bowl with Numinous Fungi and Kirin

1893–1900

Seifū Yohei III 三代清風与平

(Japanese, 1851–1914)

Culture

Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)

Medium

Porcelain with cobalt blue glaze, overglaze color enamel, and silver painting overlay

Measurements

height: 8.3 cm (3 1/4 in.); Diameter: 18.3 cm (7 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of James and Christine Heusinger 2022.241

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Inside the bowl is an auspicious, mythical deerlike creature called kirin in Japanese (麒麟 or qilin in Chinese).

Description

The complex design of this bowl is also technically sophisticated in its execution. On the interior, Yohei III has placed a mythical beast called a kirin (Chinese, qilin) within a double-banded circle painted in cobalt blue under the glaze. Around the interior of the mouth, bordered at top and bottom with underglaze blue under a brown iron oxide painted rim, he has painted a continuous coin pattern with a red wash and green color enamels. The pattern is further defined and embellished with black iron outlining the green- and gold-painted diamonds over the diluted red. The inside is otherwise left white. On the exterior, the body has a dark blue glaze and an overlaid silver design of reishi with incised lines for detail.