Water Cooler with Chinese Gardens
Medium
Porcelain with molded and carved designs
Dimensions
height: h. 5 cm · length: l. 15 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of James and Christine Heusinger
Accession Number
2022.172
Tags
About this artwork
Unlike most pieces by the Seifu Yohei studio, this one bears a seal beneath the handle rather than on the base. The glaze and technique are identified on the box as taihakuji, or “great white porcelain,” an important early invention Yohei III devised in 1872 that involved the combination of a distinctive translucent, creamy glaze over an ivory-colored clay body. The body’s two sides have garden scenes seen through windows. Designs of flowers and butterflies are incised in the spaces at both ends...