The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

White porcelain, spherical jar with a thin rim at the top. In the upper half, blue underglaze depicts leaves that flare into three undulating sections connected by the darker blue of the leaves' veins. Sparse, thin branches connect the leaves, with two furrowed spheres visible hanging from them. The glaze creates a smooth sheen that catches the light.

Jar with Japanese Snake Gourd Design

mid- to late 1900s

Imanishi Masaya

(Japanese, b. 1947)
Japan, Shōwa period (1926–89) to Heisei period (1989–2019)
porcelain with underglaze blue
Diameter: 33.6 cm (13 1/4 in.); Overall: 31.7 cm (12 1/2 in.); Diameter of rim: 14 cm (5 1/2 in.)
Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of the artist 1992.98
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The snake gourds growing around the artist's home near Nara are shaped like rugby balls and in summer, their white flowers that look like silk threads make you forget the heat, he says.

Description

Imanishi Masaya trained with Kondō Yūzō, whose mature work combined classical East Asian decorative motifs, such as pine, bamboo, and plum, executed with Western-style brushwork on traditional Asian forms, like the flower vase 1994.129. Imanishi’s jar shows overall fidelity to his teacher’s methods while reintroducing more delicate, calligraphic brushwork in the surface design.
  • ?–1992
    Collection of the artist, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1992–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art,
  • Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1992.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 2 (February 1993): 38–79. Mentioned: p. 78 www.jstor.org
  • Contemporary Calligraphy and Clay. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7, 2024-June 15, 2025).
    Signs of Affection: Gifts Honoring the Museum's 75th Anniversary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 1992-January 3, 1993).
  • {{cite web|title=Jar with Japanese Snake Gourd Design|url=false|author=Imanishi Masaya|year=mid- to late 1900s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1992.98