Hu-Shaped Vase with Handles (1914–46): Art, History and Details

Hu-Shaped Vase with Handles (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:

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 Seifu studio was inspired by later Chinese copies of two other archaic vessel types, the hu (Japanese ko) and guan (Japanese kan). In simple terms, in their original contexts, the hu and guan were storage jars that also appeared in ritual contexts. This hu-form vase by Yohei IV has a green glaze and handles in the shape of an elephant head. The details of the elephant heads are quite easy to miss, but a close look reveals that each has carved eyes with pupils defined, tiny ears and tusks in very low relief, and a curved trunk with the end curled up. This sort of container is even known as the “elephant ear” type. The only other decorative element on the vase’s pear-shaped body is a raised cordlike band around the shoulders.

Object facts

• Title: Hu-Shaped Vase with Handles
• Date: 1914–46
• Creator attribution: Seifū Yohei IV (Japanese, 1872–1951)
• Culture: Japan, Taishō period (1912–26) or Shōwa period (1926–89)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: Porcelain with molded and carved design and green glaze
• Dimensions: height: 31 cm (12 3/16 in.); Diameter: 21.5 cm (8 7/16 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 2022.226

A detail from the museum

The handles are shaped like elephant heads.

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.