Each piece in this collection has a subtle design of plum branches with a low-relief texture, overlapped by intersecting lines resembling cracked ice on frozen water. The signature on the base is in gold pigment. While Yohei II created many beautiful underglaze blue pieces similar to those made by Kiyomizu Shichibei, he also produced works in different styles towards the end of his career, starting from around 1873. In 1873, he was appointed as a supplier to the Industrial Center of Kyoto Prefecture, a role linked to Kyoto's attempts to reach an international market through the port of Kobe. From 1875 until his death, he was involved in national projects to showcase Japanese ceramics worldwide. During this period, Yohei III was apprenticed to Yohei II, and it is proposed that this set might be an early piece of Yohei III's work, signed with his teacher's name. The designs on the collection feature flowers resembling Japanese textile patterns, reminiscent of Yohei II's pair of vases with plum blossoms in the Victoria and Albert Museum. In this domestic setting, the elaborate trees created for formal public exhibitions have been transformed into the more accessible blossoms of a gentle home environment.
Each item in this set has a delicate low-relief design of flowering plum branches over scattered, intersecting lines meant to resemble the cracked-ice surface of a frozen body of water and is signed on the base in gold pigment. While Yohei II produced many fine works in underglaze blue, like those produced by Kiyomizu Shichibei, he also made works in quite different styles later in his career, from the early 1870 s. In 1873, he was appointed purveyor to the Industrial Center of Kyoto Prefecture, a designation associated with Kyoto’s efforts to reach an international market through the port of Kobe; and from 1875 until his death, he was involved in national-level projects to present Japanese ceramics across the world. It was during this period that Yohei III was apprenticed to Yohei II, and it has been suggested that this set may in fact be an early example of Yohei III’s work, which he signed with his teacher’s name. Decorated with flowers resembling Japanese textile motifs, the set calls to mind the design of Yohei II’s pair of vases with plum blossoms in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Here, the elaborate trees created for a formal public exhibition setting have been translated into the approachable blossoms of the genteel domestic environment. While the designs are consistent across the pieces, each raised flower petal and pistil and each incised line in the ice was done by hand, so the cups, bowls, and dishes are similar yet unique.
View the original at Cleveland Museum of Art →A craft cannot call itself traditional by taste or reputation. Article 2 sets five conditions, all of which must hold: it is used mainly in daily life, the main part of its making is by hand, it is made by traditional techniques, it is made chiefly from materials traditionally used, and a not-small number of people in a defined area still make it. The designation names the techniques, the materials and the region.
The cool part. Two conditions do quiet work. The first is daily use, so a technique kept alive only for display does not qualify. The fifth is the number of makers: the law will not protect a single surviving genius, because one person is a biography and not an industry. And because the region is written into the designation, the craft is legally attached to a place and cannot move.
Verify at e-Gov 法令検索 →Use it The border is the idea. Use it as an edge treatment and leave the centre empty.
Description source: museum curator text, translated — not generated