Vase
Kitaoji Rosanjin
Asian Art
MEDIUM
Porcelain
DATES
ca. 1945
PERIOD
Showa Period
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
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."
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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