Square Jar with Birds in a Flowering Landscape

late 1600s

Square Jar with Birds in a Flowering Landscape, late 1600s. Japan, Edo period (1615-1868). Porcelain with overglaze color enamels and gold (Hizen ware, Kakiemon type); overall: 27.8 x 11.6 cm (10 15/16 x 4 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Collection 1964.277 This type of square jar decorated with birds in a landscape is a common category of Kakiemon ware. It was likely paired with a complementary yet nonidentical mate. The pine tree, plum, and bamboo together form the frequently depicted motif known as the Three Friends of Winter (shōchikubai), so named because of their hardy perseverance in the cold. A jar like this was fired at a high temperature, painted with colored enamels, and then fired again at a lower temperature.