The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
Pair of Tea Containers with Plum Blossoms
early 1800s
(Japanese, 1767–1833)
Overall: 7.7 x 4.8 cm (3 1/16 x 1 7/8 in.)
Location: not on view
Description
Aoki Mokubei, born into a family of restaurateurs, was a potter, calligrapher, painter, and scholar, and is considered one of the three masters of later Edo period Kyoto ceramics. He specialized in porcelains fashioned after Chinese prototypes, and created works for steeped tea (sencha) such as these matching tea caddies decorated in an underglaze blue called sometsuke—literally “with applied dye.” He signed them on their bottoms. They also have intricately patterned silk sleeves to both beautify and protect them. On the exterior of the lid of the outer wooden box that contains them, it is written that Mokubei inscribed and painted an image on the box. On the interior of the lid, the signature and seals of a former owner are written. Mokubei has signed the lid of the inner box, and a charming ink and light color composition of West Lake in Hangzhou in China covers its three sides. On the fourth side is a long inscription by Mokubei describing the scene.- ?-1976(Mathias Komor, New York, NY, sold to Severance and Greta Millikin)1976-1989Severance A. [1895-1985] and Greta [Marguerite Steckerl] Millikin [1903-1989], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art1989-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Catalogue of the Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1990. Reproduced: cat. no. 143, p. 22; Mentioned: p. 86
- Reeds and Geese: Japanese Art from the Collection of George Gund III. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 21-September 3, 2017).Asian Autumn: Splendid Variety: 18th-Century Art in Japan. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1993-March 6, 1994).The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 5-September 2, 1990).
- {{cite web|title=Pair of Tea Containers with Plum Blossoms|url=false|author=Aoki Mokubei|year=early 1800s|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.265