Sake Pourers with Bamboo and Bellflowers
attributed to Seifū Yohei I (Japanese, 1801–1861)
c. 1844–57
- Medium
- pair of sake pourers; stoneware with white slip, underglaze blue and gold repair (kintsugi) (Kyoto ware)
- Classification
- Ceramic
- Dimensions
- height (each): 13 cm (5 1/8 in.); diameter (each): 5.5 cm (2 3/16 in.)
- Culture
- Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Japanese Art
- Credit line
- Gift of James and Christine Heusinger
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This pair of sake pourers adorned with with bamboo and bellflowers is attributed to the founder of the Seifū Studio, Seifū Yohei I (1801–1861).
Yohei I, the lineage founder, was born to the Yasuda family in the city of Kanazawa, which faces the Sea of Japan. His home province of Kaga (in present-day Ishikawa Prefecture) produced its own ceramics, known as Kutani ware, but for his training as a potter, Yohei I chose Kyoto, which produced the more technically advanced porcelain ware. He moved to Kyoto around the 1820s and became apprenticed to Nin’ami Dohachi, a leading potter in the city. He later struck out on his own, and it is likely that his teacher gave him the name Seifu Yohei. His works include many exquisitely painted copies of Chinese porcelain, and he also produced stoneware with overglaze color enamels that emulated works in the style of Ogata Kenzan (1663–1743) at which his teacher excelled.
