Flower Vase with Floral Scroll

1893–1914

Seifū Yohei III 三代清風与平

(Japanese, 1851–1914)

Culture

Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)

Medium

Porcelain with underglaze colors and green glaze

Measurements

24.5 x 12 cm (9 5/8 x 4 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of James and Christine Heusinger 2022.192

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The center of each chrysanthemum has a crescent-shaped design at the top filled with a very pale yellow wash under the transparent glaze.

Description

The upper part of this vase is painted in underglaze blue with a floral scroll of leaves accentuated with a single chrysanthemum motif on each face and bound at top and bottom with single blue lines. The box lid for the vase is short on detail; the inscription notes only that it is a flower vase with underglaze blue.

It is possible that the box is a mismatch because the inscription does not mention the vase’s more distinctive feature: the deep green glaze on its lower half, which is seen much less frequently among Yohei III’s works. This glaze may be an example of a dark green porcelain glaze called rōkanji, which the artist invented in 1892. The name of the glaze comes from Chinese, in which it is pronounced langgan. It may literally mean “tinkling sound of jade” and could refer to malachite, among other proposed identifications.