Vase with Blossoming Plum and Short Poem
(Japan and Korea )
Around the year 950, the emperor received an anonymous poem that made him change his mind about removing an ancient plum tree that had recently died: "Since my lord commands, what can I do but obey; but the nightingales, when they ask about their nests-- whatever can I tell them?" The character for "nightingale" is perched upon the branch; amazingly, it (and the other characters) consists of colored clay, inserted into the cutout wall of the vessel.
Inscription
[Poem Transcription] Choku nareba itomo kashikoshi uguisu no yado wa to towaba ikaga kotaemu / Ki no Tsurayuki onna; [Poem Translation] Since my Lord commands, what can one do but obey? But the nightingales, when they ask about their nests- whatever can I tell them? (Poem written by Ki no Naishi, the daughter of the famous Heian-period poet Ki no Tsurayuki (ca.872-945)); [Seal] Xuande [Hsuan-te]; [Transcription] Makuzu gama Kozan sei; [Translation] Made by Kozan, Makuzu kiln; [Sticker] Japanese export sticker 1904
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis; Henry Walters, Baltimore, December, 1904, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
2012-2014 | Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at World's Fairs, 1851-1939. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans; Mint Museum of Art Uptown, Charlotte. |
1994-1995 | Bridging East and West: Japanese Ceramics from the Kozan Studio. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
1984 | Master Potters of Japan. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Conservation
Date | Description | Narrative |
---|---|---|
8/25/1981 | Treatment | examined for condition; surface cleaned |
Geographies
Japan, Yokohama (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Overall H: 14 x Diam: 12 5/16 in. (35.56 x 31.24 cm); Vase H: 12 1/2 x Diam: 12 5/16 in. (31.75 x 31.24 cm); Wooden Base H: 2 1/2 x Diam: 9 in. (6.35 x 22.86 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1904
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
49.1912