Saucers with Matching Shells (1893–1914): Art, History and Details

Saucers with Matching Shells (1893–1914) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Seifū Yohei III (Japanese, 1851–1914).

The work and its context

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

Yohei III’s main output for his sophisticated clientele was in the form of tea sets and dining sets. He created a range of dishes in green glazes. He often produced in pairs, sets of five, or sets of ten. The set of five dishes with a more complex form is described as having a “water-colored glaze” (mizuiroyū). These are shaped like clam half shells, a reference to a game in which shell halves painted with narrative scenes or a variety of motifs must be matched back together by the players. The dishes have molded details to articulate the shell forms, and the crackling across each shell adds another dimension to the surface. Each dish is set on three small feet, formed by a pinched piece of clay and attached to an unglazed area on the underside of the dish. Curiously, while four of the dishes are stamped with the artist’s mark, one has instead a signature carved into the base.

Object facts

• Title: Saucers with Matching Shells
• Date: 1893–1914
• Creator attribution: Seifū Yohei III (Japanese, 1851–1914)
• Culture: Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: Set of five saucers; porcelain with molded designs and green crackled glaze
• Dimensions: height (each): 3 cm (1 3/16 in.); width (each): 12 cm (4 3/4 in.); depth (each): 8.5 cm (3 3/8 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 2022.188

A detail from the museum

The saucers are meant to look like matched halves of clam shells in reference to a once popular game.

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.