The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Water Container (Mizusashi) with Riverscape (lid)

Water Container (Mizusashi) with Riverscape (lid)

late 1500s–early 1600s
(1573-1615) to Edo period (1615-1858)
Black lacquer
Lid: 2.9 x 14.7 cm (1 1/8 x 5 13/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1972.9.b
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The water this container held during a tea ceremony was used to fill the kama, or iron pot in which the water is heated.

Description

Mizusashi are jars used to hold water for the preparation of tea at tea gatherings. This one was produced in the Mino area of present-day Gifu prefecture in central Japan, and is considered one of the finest of its type in existence, based on the complex aesthetic sensibilities developed around the tea ceremony in Japan. It is called a “picture Shino” (e-shino) mizusashi, as it has an abstracted design said to resemble an ink painting of reeds along a river bank and small boats in a river on one side, and a geometric pattern on the other. With its irregular shape and thick, luminous glaze, it is of a variety favored by eminent tea masters of the Momoyama period.
  • ?-1972
    (Gatodo Gallery Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1972-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 379 archive.org
    Cunningham, Michael R. The Triumph of Japanese Style: 16th-Century Art in Japan. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with the Indiana University Press, 1991. Reproduced: p. 137
  • Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 27-August 23, 2009).
    One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650) from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Japan House Gallery, New York, NY (March 19-May 17, 1981).
  • {{cite web|title=Water Container (Mizusashi) with Riverscape (lid)|url=false|author=|year=late 1500s–early 1600s|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.9.b