Sake Pourers with Bamboo and Bellflowers (c. 1844–57): Art, History and Details

Sake Pourers with Bamboo and Bellflowers (c. 1844–57) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Seifū Yohei I (Japanese, 1801–1861).

The work and its context

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

This pair of sake pourers adorned with with bamboo and bellflowers is attributed to the founder of the Seifū Studio, Seifū Yohei I (1801–1861). Yohei I, the lineage founder, was born to the Yasuda family in the city of Kanazawa, which faces the Sea of Japan. His home province of Kaga (in present-day Ishikawa Prefecture) produced its own ceramics, known as Kutani ware, but for his training as a potter, Yohei I chose Kyoto, which produced the more technically advanced porcelain ware. He moved to Kyoto around the 1820s and became apprenticed to Nin’ami Dohachi, a leading potter in the city. He later struck out on his own, and it is likely that his teacher gave him the name Seifu Yohei. His works include many exquisitely painted copies of Chinese porcelain, and he also produced stoneware with overglaze color enamels that emulated works in the style of Ogata Kenzan (1663–1743) at which his teacher excelled.

Object facts

• Title: Sake Pourers with Bamboo and Bellflowers
• Date: c. 1844–57
• Creator attribution: Seifū Yohei I (Japanese, 1801–1861)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: pair of sake pourers; stoneware with white slip, underglaze blue and gold repair (kintsugi) (Kyoto ware)
• Dimensions: height (each): 13 cm (5 1/8 in.); diameter (each): 5.5 cm (2 3/16 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 2022.143

A detail from the museum

The two pourers are stored together in a bespoke box, which is inscribed and impressed with red seals.

Collection credit

Gift of James and Christine Heusinger

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.