The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 17, 2025

Lid for Lidded Sake Jar

1989

Kawase Shinobu

(Japanese, b. 1950)
Japan, Shōwa period (1926–89)
Porcelain with blue-green glaze
Dudley P. Allen Fund 2023.17.b
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Kawase Shinobu receives a stipend from the Japanese government to help him preserve the techniques he practices for future generations.

Description

Jars of this shape are known as guan (罐) in China. Historically, since they usually arrived in Japan containing rice wine, they were called sake jars, or shukaiko (酒会壷) in Japanese. The term implies that there is sufficient sake in the vessel for a group of people assembled for an occasion. The lotus leaf–shaped lid and ribbed sides recall Song dynasty pieces of the 1100s to 1200s.
  • ?–2023
    (Joan B. Mirviss Ltd., Japanese Art, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2023–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Japanese Ceramics Today: Masterworks from the Kikuchi Collection: Feb. 11-Apr. 3, 1983, Smithsonian Institution, Wash. D.C., May 18-July 17, 1983, Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution; London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 57, 60, 65, cat. no. 129–131, 152
    Masami, Shioda. “Kawase Shinobu: Delicate Forms and Rich Blues.” Ceramics Art and Perception 81 (2010): pp. 3–7.
    Kawase, Shinobu 川瀬忍. Kawase shinobu no seiji: Tensei kara shizukanaru ao e [川瀬忍の青磁: 天青から静かなる青へ= Celadon works by Kawase Shinobu]. Tokyo: Kikuchi bijutsu zaidan, 2011.
    Kawase Shinobu: Sakutō 50nen no aida [川瀬忍 : 作陶50年の間 = Kawase Shinobu: fifty years of celadon making]. Tokyo: Musée Tomo, 2018.
  • Contemporary Calligraphy and Clay. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7, 2024-June 15, 2025).
    10 X 10 Past And Present: Japanese Masters Of Ceramics. Joan B. Mirviss Ltd., Japanese Art at the Winter Show, Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY (January 20–29, 2023).
    Japanese Ceramics Today: Masterworks from the Kikuchi Collection. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (February 11-April 3, 1983); Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England (May 18-July 17, 1983).
  • {{cite web|title=Lid for Lidded Sake Jar|url=false|author=Kawase Shinobu|year=1989|access-date=17 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.17.b