The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 20, 2023

Dish with Figures in a Garden

1700s

Japan, Edo period

(1615-1868)

Porcelain with underglaze blue and overglaze enamel and gold decoration (Hizen ware, Imari style)

Diameter: 21 cm (8 1/4 in.); height: 3.2 cm (1 1/4 in.)

Severance and Greta Millikin Collection 1964.257

Location

not on view

Description

This decorative porcelain—mass-produced for the export market in Europe—is inscribed with a poem from The Gateless Gate or The Gateless Barrier (Wuwen kuan in Chinese and Mumonkan in Japanese) by the Chinese Chan (Zen) master Wumen Huihai (1183–1260). The inscription reads, "I always remember the spring in the south. Where the partridges sing; how fragrant the countless flowers!"

Inscriptions

Inscription

大明嘉靖年製

Inscription Translation

Apocryphal inscription reading "Da Ming Jiajing nianzhi" (Made in the Great Ming dynasty, Jiajing reign, 1522–66)

Provenance
?–1960
(Harry C. Nail, Jr. [1909–1990], Palo Alto, CA, sold to Severance and Greta Millikin)
1960–1964
Severance A. [1895–1985] and Greta [Marguerite Steckerl] Millikin [1903–1989], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1964–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Sŏn, Sŭng-hye. The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 23, no. 12
Exhibition history

200 Years of Japanese Porcelain. Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (organizer) (October 9-November 15, 1970); The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (December 3-27, 1970).

The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 5-September 2, 1990).

The Lure of Painted Poetry: Cross-cultural Text and Image in Korean and Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (April 15-August 21, 2011).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.257