Dishes with Shells (1914–46): Art, History and Details

Dishes with Shells (1914–46) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Seifū Yohei IV (Japanese, 1872–1951).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Yohei IV chose an aquatic theme for this set of five mukōzuke, side dishes. He added an iron oxide rim and used a concentrated blue glaze on both the interior and exterior. The glaze, named on the box lid, is his father’s “evening moon” (tsukiyoi) color. The conch in relief takes up the entire bottom of the dish. Up the sides are two snails on one end and on the other a scallop. This results in a boldly graphic, less realistic effect.

Object facts

• Title: Dishes with Shells
• Date: 1914–46
• Creator attribution: Seifū Yohei IV (Japanese, 1872–1951)
• Culture: Japan, Taishō period (1912–26)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: Set of five dishes; porcelain with blue glaze, iron oxide, and molded design
• Dimensions: height (each): 2.5 cm (1 in.); diameter (each): 12.1 cm (4 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 2022.213

A detail from the museum

This set of dishes, mukōzuke, could be used for serving small side dishes at a tea gathering.

Collection credit

Gift of James and Christine Heusinger

Further reading listed by the museum

• Maezaki, Shinya and Sinéad Vilbar. Colors of Kyoto: The Seifū Yohei Ceramic Studio. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.