香炉 · Incense Burner with Peony and Cloud

Yohei IV’s incense burner has a scrolling floral pattern of peonies and nyoi sta€ff-head forms around the body and a band of clouds around the collar. These are done in low relief, with incised lines marking the details in the flower petals and leaves. The silver lid has a proliferation of flowers, including lily, peony, and a variety of chrysanthemums.

The box lid identifies the subtle pink over an ivory body as “dawn’s light[–glazed] porcelain” (shokōji). After he became an Artist of the Imperial Household, Yohei III created a number of glaze and clay combinations with what would have been considered Japan-focused names to be in alignment with his position as an artist representing the nation. Among them was a glaze called “dawn’s light pale [pink] color” (akebonoiro tansai), which he invented in 1895. It is possible that this incense burner is an example with this glaze, despite the slightly different name given on the box. While the name alludes to the Land of the Rising Sun, an epithet for Japan, the burner’s motifs remain very much drawn from the Chinese repertoire.