# Sweets Bowl with Plum Tree

- By: Seifū Yohei IV (Japanese, 1872–1951)
- Date: 1914–46
- Medium: Porcelain with underglaze color and modeled design
- Classification: Ceramic
- Dimensions: 11.5 x 21.5 cm (4 1/2 x 8 7/16 in.)
- Culture: Japan, Taishō period (1912–26) to Shōwa period (1926–89)
- Credit line: Gift of James and Christine Heusinger
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/2022.242)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2022.242/2022.242_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

In Chinese culture, the plum symbolizes the virtue of perseverance. For his sweets bowl based on Qing dynasty (1644–1911) Chinese prototypes, Seifū Yohei IV first painted the gnarled boughs of a plum tree in iron oxide on the surface. Then he made the tree’s blossoms slightly raised by building up slip, or liquified clay. He painted their centers yellow. Before applying the blue glaze, he covered the blossoms with paper so that they remained white.