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Vase

Kitaoji Rosanjin

Asian Art

MEDIUM Porcelain
  • Place Made: Japan
  • DATES ca. 1945
    PERIOD Showa Period
    DIMENSIONS 10 5/8 x 5 3/8 in. (27 x 13.7 cm)  (show scale)
    INSCRIPTIONS Quatrain of five-syllable lines from Chinese-style poem by Zen monk, Ryokan (1758-1831), written in the author's calligraphic style by Rosanjin: When we brothers, older and younger, have a chance to meet, Both of us now have eyebrows turning gray and drooping. We enjoy the moment, and rejoice, our world is calm and peaceful, And day after day can get drunk as though we are fools. (Translation John T. Carpenter, 2021) Transliteration: Keitei ai au tokoro tomo ni kore hakubi taru shibaraku taihei no yo o yorokobi nichinichi youte chi no gotoshi
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 75.128.1
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Cylindrical white porcelain vase with slightly outward-sloping sides and gently rounded shoulders flowing into a short neck ending in a plain, flat edge. Recessed bottom with central perforation for a lamp cord (not drilled later but cut in the clay before firing and then glazed). The decoration consists of six vertical lines of bold ideographs painted in underglaze cobalt blue. There is a square seal containing the three characters "ro", "san", "jin" also painted in underglaze blue. In wood storage box. Condition: Small firing crack by perforation in base. Calligraphy is in the "artless" writing style of Ryokan (1758-1831), a Zen monk whom Rosanjin admired. The text is by Ryokan as well, from a poem written about the monk's younger brother, Yoshiyuki, called "The Great Pleasure of Drinking Sake with Yoshiyuki."
    EXHIBITIONS
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Kitaoji Rosanjin (Japanese, 1883-1959). Vase, ca. 1945. Porcelain, 10 5/8 x 5 3/8 in. (27 x 13.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, 75.128.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 75.128.1_view01_PS11.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 75.128.1_view01_PS11.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2021
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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    Kitaoji Rosanjin (Japanese, 1883-1959). <em>Vase</em>, ca. 1945. Porcelain, 10 5/8 x 5 3/8 in. (27 x 13.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, 75.128.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 75.128.1_view01_PS11.jpg)