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Gu-Shaped Flower Vase
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Seifū Yohei III was the most prominent head of a ceramics studio in Kyoto that specialized in Chinese-style porcelains and especially items for use in sencha (煎茶), or the drinking of steeped-leaf tea with companions. Sencha was popular among the bunjin of Kyoto and Osaka, who often enjoyed it as part of their emulation of Chinese culture. While sencha was by design less formal than the Japanese tea ceremony, it still featured the display of treasured objects. Prized Chinese antiquities were generally unobtainable, so substitutes such as the Gu-Shaped Flower Vase were much in demand.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineGu-Shaped Flower Vase (櫻華釉花缾), 1893–97. Seifū Yohei III (Japanese, 1851–1914). Glazed porcelain with molded and carved designs; height: 31.1 cm (12 1/4 in.); diameter of mouth: 13.5 cm (5 5/16 in.); diameter of foot: 11 cm (4 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of James and Christine Heusinger, 2022.224
