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Container from Lit Charcoal and Ash Containers
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The box lid for these six-lobed lit charcoal and ash containers, or hiire , identifies them as kōhakuji , another of Yohei III’s translucent cream colors over ivory clay bodies. One might translate the name as “lustrous pearl[–glazed ivory] porcelain.” A hiire was filled with ash with burnt coals at the center so that embers and tobacco ash could be discarded safely during a gathering. Each of the lobes on the containers has a round protrusion set below the rim. The studlike pattern is called ruiza . The term is also used to describe the pattern that rings the shoulder of some flower vases or metal kettles used in chanoyu.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineContainer from Lit Charcoal and Ash Containers, 1893–1914. Seifū Yohei III (Japanese, 1851–1914). One from a set of four containers; porcelain with molded design; overall: 10 x 12 cm (3 15/16 x 4 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of James and Christine Heusinger, 2022.181.1
