Sweets Bowl with Plum Tree | Cleveland Museum of Art

Sweets Bowl with Plum Tree

1914–46

Seifū Yohei IV 四代清風与平

(Japanese, 1872–1951)

Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)

Porcelain with underglaze color and molded design

11.5 x 21.5 cm (4 1/2 x 8 7/16 in.)

Gift of James and Christine Heusinger 2022.242

Location: not on view

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Did You Know?

Broad access to high-quality Chinese ceramics occasioned by the collapse of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) and the dispersal of elite Chinese collections presented Seifū Yohei IV with models for both molded decoration and painted motifs.

Description

In this sweets bowl, Yohei IV combines ink painting techniques with advanced glazing techniques. He has painted the gnarled boughs of a plum tree in iron oxide on the surface of the bowl. The tree’s blossoms are made slightly in relief by a build-up of slip. Their centers are painted with yellow. All of this is under a blue glaze that his father developed and named “evening moon” (tsukiyoi). Before applying the glaze, he would have covered the blossoms with paper so that they remained white. It appears that after applying the tsukiyoi glaze, he then went back over the design with iron oxide to add luster and dimensionality to the branches before applying a transparent glaze.

Sweets Bowl with Plum Tree

Sweets Bowl with Plum Tree

1914–46

Seifū Yohei IV

(Japanese, 1872–1951)

Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)

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