The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 2, 2023

Dish with Autumn Grasses and Rocks

鼠志野岩に秋草図額皿

late 1500s–early 1600s

Japan, Momoyama period (1573-1615) to Edo period

(1615-1858)

Stoneware with underglaze iron oxide slip and incised designs (Mino ware, Shino type)

Overall: 20 cm (7 7/8 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1966.24

Location

not on view

Description

Mino ware is stoneware produced in the Mino area of present-day Gifu prefecture in central Japan. Works like this piece are called nezumi-shino, or “mouse-gray” Shino, after the glazing technique. The gray color and white design of grasses were achieved by applying an iron oxide slip to the surface and carving through it to the white clay, and then covering the whole surface in glaze and firing the object. In its design, this serving dish emulates Chinese ceramic prototypes, but its shape recalls wooden and lacquered trays commonly used in Japan at the time.

Provenance
?-1966
(N. V. Hammer, Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1966-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 281 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 281 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 380 archive.org
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Jenifer Neils. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 143, no. 146
Exhibition history

"Japanese Art Exhibitions," Albuquerque Museum of Art, History and Science, Feb. 1-July 1, 1980.

"The World of Ceramics -- Masterpieces from The Cleveland Museum of Art," CMA, June 30-Sept. 5, 1982; catalogue edited by Jenifer Neils, essay by Sherman E. Lee (CMA, 1982), no. 146.

"Word in Flower: The Visualization of Classical Literature in Seventeenth Century Japan," Yale University Art Gallery, Sept. 22-Nov. 12, 1989.

The Cleveland Museum of Art; 7/15/01-8/12/01 & 8/14/01-9/16/01 (1st & 2nd rotation). "Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art."

Metropolitan Musuem of Art, NYC (10/21/2003 - 1/11/2004): "Turning Point: Oribe Ware and the Arts of Sixteenth-Century Japan"

Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-October 16, 1966).

Katachi: Form and Spirit in Japanese Art. The Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM (organizer) (March 2-June 8, 1980).

Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).

Autumn Grasses: Arts of the Momoyama Period (1573-1615). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4-December 11, 1988).

Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 16, 2001).

Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of Sixteenth-Century Japan. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 21, 2003-January 11, 2004).

Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 2-July 9, 2018).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.24