Translucent pale yellowish green; trail in opaque white. Outsplayed rim, folded down, round, and in, with flattened top surface and inner lip around mouth; wide cylindrical neck, with horizontal tooled indent around base; piriform body; slightly concave bottom with pontil scar. Trail applied to center of bottom and wound up in a spiral, extending to […]
Earthen tomb mounds, common burial practice on the Asian continent, were brought to Japan around the third century. Haniwa (clay cylinders)—at times numbering in the thousands—were placed in rows or scattered outside these tombs. Sculptors sometimes topped cylinders with figures or animals, themselves often almost abstract in aesthetic. The shape of this poignant example recalls […]
An aquamanile is a vessel for pouring water used in the ritual of washing hands in both religious and secular contexts—by the priest before Mass and in a private household before a meal. The subject of this celebrated example is the moralizing legend of Aristotle and Phyllis, which achieved popularity in the late Middle Ages. […]
The beauty of women has long been a favorite subject for many artists. For example, during the Heian Period (794-1185), beautiful women were often depicted on picture scrolls, and in the Edo Period (1603-1867) they were seen in ukiyo-e (Japanese-genre paintings and prints). It was not until the Meiji Era (1868-1912), however, that bijin-ga (painting […]
A woman sits on a bench while another stands next to her. They are painted in suppressed tones with a white color scheme, which is a departure from Korean traditions. The horizontal lines of the bench and the diagonal line extending from the tops of the women’s heads to the mirror create a triangle, and […]