清風与平, 三代

Seifū Yohei III had the childhood name of Okada Heikichi. He was born the second son of Okada Ryōhei in 1851 (Kaei 4) in Ōshio-mura, Inami-gun, Harima province (present-day Ōshio-machi, Awaji city, Hyōgo prefecture). His father Okada Ryōhei (“gō” [art name] Tokuhō 得鳳) was a Confucianist and known as a skilled bird and flower subject painter. In 1863 (Bunkyū 3) Yohei entered the studio of Tanomura Choku’nyū in Osaka and began studying literati painting. In 1865 (Keiō 1) ill health meant he returned home to recuperate. After his recovery he was adopted by the Seifū family of Gojōzaka, Kyoto in 1866 (Keiō 2) when he married Kuma the sister of Seifū Yohei II (“gō” Gokei 五渓, 1845–1878). He began studying ceramic painting, while also independently studying the ceramic production process. In 1872 (Meiji 5) he was allowed to found his own family line, so he created the Shinkai family and took the “gō” Seizan 清山. His first son Baikei was adopted by the childless Seifū Yohei II. However, Seifū Yohei II then died in 1878 (Meiji 11), and Seizan became the guardian of the Seifū family heir Baikei, and took the “gō” Seizan 靖山. Baikei in turn died young, and Seizan became the family heir and took the name Seifū Yohei III (“gō” Seizan 晟山). Yohei III received a Bronze Prize in the 1889 Fourth Paris Exposition Universelle and then the First Prize of Virtuosity in the following year’s Third National Industrial Exposition (1890, Ueno, Tokyo). These prizes brought him sudden attention. In 1892 (Meiji 25), he was the first ceramic artist named an Imperial Artist. He served as art division advisor 鑑別官 and judging committee membe 審査官 for the Fourth National Industrial Exposition (1895, Okazaki, Kyoto), and his entries were awarded honorary silver plaques 名誉賞銀牌. A work with the same design motifs as one of his award-winning entries “Underglaze Blue Porcelain Vase with Pine Tree and Crane” is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University. That same year he was the first ceramic artist awarded the Medal with Green Ribbon by the Japanese government. In later overseas exhibitions, he received a Silver Medal at the Fifth Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900. That award was given to three items of porcelain vases and subsequently “Glossy White Porcelain Vase with Carved Design” (1899) was acquired for Imperial Household Agency use, “Tenmoku Glaze Vase with Dragon and Cloud Design” (1899) is in the State Guest House Akasaka Palace, and “Underglaze Blue Porcelain Vase with Birds and Flowers Design” (known as “Vase of Hirohito”) is in the East Asian collections, KU Leuven Library Belgium. He also received a Gold Medal at the Japan-British Exhibition in London in 1910. In Japan he received a succession of prizes at the Japan Art Association exhibitions, and also served as a judge and organizing committee member for expositions and exhibitions. He died from stomach cancer in July 1914 (Taishō 3). His second son, Seifū Yohei IV (“gō” Seizan 成山) became the head of the family. The potter Shinkai Kanzan, active in the Nitten exhibitions during the Shōwa period, and the Naoki Prize-winning author Okada Seizō are Yohei III’s grandsons. The Seifū family was adept at copying the Ming and Qing dynasty sencha utensils and scholarly furnishings that were popular in late Edo period Japan. Yohei III also created numerous underglaze blue porcelain works in the Chinese porcelain style. He produced sencha cups which he had his literati painting teacher Tanomura Choku’nyū and his adopted son Tanomura Shōsai decorate with painting and calligraphy. Conversely, most of the works he produced after being appointed an Imperial Artist were in a more Japanese style. He introduced original techniques and Japanese designs not found in Chinese ceramics, while also creating utensils for the matcha tea ceremony, such as matcha tea bowls and “mizusashi” (fresh water containers). He was a rare Meiji period ceramic artist who did not mass-produce works for export. Up until around 1907 (Meiji 40) he did not have his own climbing kiln, and it can be said that fewer of his works are extant than those made by other ceramic artists and commercial ceramic producers of the same period. Immediately after Yohei III established his independent line as Shinkai Seizan 新開清山, he engaged in research on new techniques and materials, discovering more than seventy new techniques in the course of his life. He discovered and used various types of glaze that sought to surpass those of Chinese ceramics, and his broad distribution of those discoveries to others in his industry led the Japanese government to award him the Medal with Green Ribbon. The major techniques introduced by Yohei III are as follows. Many of his works in “taihakuji” 太白磁, an ivory color white porcelain reminiscent of Song dynasty Ding ware that he discovered in 1872, are adorned with intricately detailed relief and incised designs. A representative example is “Large Vase with Butterflies and Peonies” (Important Cultural Property [ICP], 1892, Tokyo National Museum). His “kanpakuji” 瑍白磁is a white porcelain with a faint reddish background color that sets off the “taihakuji” decoration. A representative example is “White Porcelain Flower Vase with Peony Design in Relief” (ca. 1895–1920, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto). One of Yohei III’s best works is his “Kyokusai Glaze Porcelain Vase with Cherry Blossom Design” (1905, Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shōzōkan, Tokyo). In 1882 (Meiji 15), he discovered “hishokuji kinuta yū” 秘色磁砧釉, a celadon glaze reminiscent of the olive green-colored Longquan celadon of the Song to Yuan dynasties. A representative example of that glaze is “Vase with a Celadon Glaze with Iron Brown Spots” (1912, Tokyo National Museum). He also was involved with strongly blue-toned glazes that he named Tenseiyu (sky blue glaze) 天青釉, Tsukiyoi seiji (evening moon color celadon) 月宵青磁, Mizuiroyu (water blue glaze) 水色釉, Konji (navy blue porcelain) 紺磁, and Aiji (indigo blue porcelain)藍磁. He also successfully developed Shinshayū (copper-red glaze) 辰砂釉, Kikayū (hollyhock flower glaze) 葵花釉, Tenmokuyū (tenmoku glaze) 天目釉, Murasakiyū (purple glaze) 紫釉, Sangoyū (coral red glaze) 珊瑚釉, Ōyū (yellow glaze) 黄釉,Rokasaiyū (cherry blossom glaze) 桜花彩釉, Hakuyū (white glaze) 白釉, Kokuyū (black glaze) 黒釉 and many others. He produced works with intricately detailed designs in combinations of various colored glazes, a technique he named “hyakka nishiki” (hundred flowers brocade) 百花錦. (Maezaki Shinya / Translated by Martha J. McClintock) (Published online: 2024-03-06)