Vase
1875 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is one of a pair of vases made by the 2nd generation Seifu Yohei, who succeeded to the family headship on the death of his father in 1861. Although slip (semi-liquid clay) is commonly used on ceramics for decorative purposes, it is rarely employed with such a high degree of skill and sophistication as on this vase. The vases were part of a group of over 200 ceramics bought on behalf of the V&A by the Japanese Exposition commissioners with funds provided by Philip Cunliffe-Owen, an ardent Japanophile who was director of the V&A from 1874 to 1893. The instructions sent to the commissioners were that they should ‘make an historical collection of porcelain and pottery from the earliest period until the present time, to be formed in such a way as to give fully the history of the art.’
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Porcelain with slip-trailed decoration and pale bluish glaze |
| Brief description | Cer, Japan, KYOTO, PORCELAIN |
| Physical description | Vase of porcelain, with raised slip-trailed decoration of plum tree in blossom. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | (On base)
|
| Gallery label | PAIR OF VASES
Porcelain with slip-trailed decoration under pale bluish glaze
Mark Dai Nihon Seifu Tsukuru in underglaze blue on base
Kyoto, Seifu workshop
JAPANESE; c.1875
370&a-1877(As at 2005) |
| Object history | Purchased from the Japanese Commissioners for the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, accessioned in 1877. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | This is one of a pair of vases made by the 2nd generation Seifu Yohei, who succeeded to the family headship on the death of his father in 1861. Although slip (semi-liquid clay) is commonly used on ceramics for decorative purposes, it is rarely employed with such a high degree of skill and sophistication as on this vase. The vases were part of a group of over 200 ceramics bought on behalf of the V&A by the Japanese Exposition commissioners with funds provided by Philip Cunliffe-Owen, an ardent Japanophile who was director of the V&A from 1874 to 1893. The instructions sent to the commissioners were that they should ‘make an historical collection of porcelain and pottery from the earliest period until the present time, to be formed in such a way as to give fully the history of the art.’ |
| Bibliographic reference | Augustus Wollaston Franks and M. Shioda, Japanese Pottery. [London]: Chapman & Hall Ltd., 1880. South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks; 18.
Catalogue number 212 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 370A-1877 |
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| Record created | October 30, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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