Vase with cover
19th century
Medium
Iron
Dimensions
H. 5 in. (12.7 cm); Diam. 2 3/4 in. (7 cm)
Classification
Metalwork
Culture
Japan
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Howard Mansfield Collection, Gift of Howard Mansfield, 1936
Accession Number
36.120.670a–c
Art Historical Context
**Vase with Cover** by Seiriucho Hidet is a delicate gem of 19th-century metalwork, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum Art's Asian Art Department. Crafted from iron, this petite vessel measures just 5 inches (12.7 cm) in height and 2¾ inches (7 cm) in diameter, with a fitted cover that underscores the artisan's precision. Its modest scale suggests it was intended for intimate settings, perhaps adorning a scholar's desk or enhancing a tea ceremony alcove. In late Edo-period Japan (extending into the early Meiji era), iron metalwork flourished as artisans transformed a sturdy, everyday mater...