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Sake Flask (pair)
1500s
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
This flask contained rice wine, or sake. Its wood body was shaped by a lathe before black lacquer was applied to the surface. A red lacquer design of grapevines, an auspicious motif, covers the surface. With their numerous, long-lasting fruits, grapevines traditionally symbolized fertility and longevity in East Asia.
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Details
- Title: Sake Flask (pair)
- Date Created: 1500s
- Physical Dimensions: Diameter: 24 cm (9 7/16 in.); Overall: 30.5 cm (12 in.)
- Provenance: (Tajima Mitsuru, Tokyo, Japan, ?-1991, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
- Type: Lacquer
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1991.47
- Medium: Black laquered wood with red lacquer
- Fun Fact: The evocative imagery of brushed leaves and bunches of grapes suggest that the artist referred to a particular painting when decorating this vase.
- Department: Japanese Art
- Culture: Japan, Muromachi period (1392-1573)
- Credit Line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Collection: Japanese Art
- Accession Number: 1991.47
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