Tong-Shaped Vase with Flowers and Grasses
Medium
Porcelain with molded and carved design and green glaze
Dimensions
diam. 12 cm · height: h. 31.5 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of James and Christine Heusinger
Accession Number
2022.228
Tags
About this artwork
Many of the vases created by Yohei III and IV were made with reference to and in emulation of Chinese ceramics in both form and glazing. The vessel type called tongping, pronounced tōbin in Japanese, is tall and cylindrical, like the thick length of bamboo referenced in the shape of the ideograph tong 筒. Unlike the ancient gu, hu, and guan, this form did not emerge in China until the Ming dynasty, and many such vases date to the early Qing dynasty. Two green-glazed vases, CMA 2022.225 by Yohei I...