Water Cooler from Tea Set with Chinese Landscape

1893–1914

Seifū Yohei III 三代清風与平

(Japanese, 1851–1914)

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Culture

Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)

Medium

Porcelain with underglaze blue

Measurements

5.4 x 11.9 x 7.4 cm (2 1/8 x 4 11/16 x 2 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of James and Christine Heusinger 2022.171.2

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

This is a yuzamashi, a container used to cool boiled water to just the right temperature for the best flavor when steeping.

Description

The kidney-shaped water cooler, yuzamashi, has a scene of a man gazing at a full moon in a dramatic mountain-scape stretching before a large compound in the woods. Another man, hunched over and carrying a heavy parcel tied to a pole over his shoulder, struggles to make his way up a hill to the site. The cooler also has a pair of applied nyoi staff-head forms for resting the tips of one’s thumb and index finger.