Exhibitions

• Important Cultural Property

Ewer and Basin with Peony Design

• Ceramic
• China Northern Song dynasty, 11th century
• Nezu Museum

This ewer and basin were produced at the Yue kiln group in Zhejiang province, China. They are a classic example of ceramics from China’s Northern Song period (960-1127). The basin would be filled with hot water to warm the wine in the ewer.

• Important Cultural Property

Vase with Flower Design
Jingdezhen ware group

• Ceramic
• China Ming dynasty, 16th century
• Nezu Museum

This splendid vase was painted with red and green overglaze enamels and peony motifs added in gold pigment. Using gold decor in this way developed at the private Jingdezhen kilns. This work, with its boldly swelling lower body, is a remarkable masterpiece.

• Important Cultural Property

Dishes with Various Design
By Ogata Kenzan in Kyoto

• Ceramic
• Japan Edo period, 18th century
• Nezu Museum

Kenzan (1663-1742) was the younger brother of Ogata Kōrin, the painter after whom the Rimpa School is named. Using underglaze iron and gosu cobalt and overglaze gold and working in the Rimpa aesthetic, Kenzan created designs associated with the natural world throughout the four seasons for hand-formed earthenware Kyoto-ware dishes.

Buddhist Cabinet with Peony Design

• Ceramic
• Korean Peninsula Joseon dynasty, 15th century
• Nezu Museum

Inlaying, in which the design is incised in the clay and filled in with white slip to produce the motifs, is a technique that was used extensively on ceramics from the Korean Peninsula. Inlaid decoration of a cabinet to hold a Buddhist artifact such as an image or sutra is, however, unusual. This cabinet is thus a rare work.