vase (containers)

Earthenware flower vase. Square, four-sided vase with a round mouth and foot, decorated with a polychrome floral design in relief. It has black, squared-off ridges along all four corners, and a square shoulder and base. Inside the flowers, which are green, blue, and red, are shippo mon shapes. Thus, the flowers represent imaginary flowers (termed 'karahana', meaning 'Chinese flower'). The flowers are very stylised, in symmetrical formal shapes with leaves and tendrils. The flowers are in relief set against a brown ground. This shape of vase is derived from Chinese forms, but is now quite common in Japan.

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk