Hexagonal Jar (late 1600s): Art, History and Details

Hexagonal Jar (late 1600s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This pair of jars originally possessed domed lids. Their imposing size, shape, and Chinese-style décor identify them as products made for the European markets in England, Holland, France, and Germany. Indeed many similar examples can be seen in museum and historic house collections in those countries. Such Kakiemon ware also inspired domestic porcelain production in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Object facts

• Title: Hexagonal Jar
• Date: late 1600s
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: porcelain with overglaze enamel and gold decoration (Hizen ware, Kakiemon type)
• Dimensions: Overall: 26.8 x 18.6 cm (10 9/16 x 7 5/16 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1964.273.2

Collection credit

Severance and Greta Millikin Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Sŏn Sŭng-hye. The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011.

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.