Three vases in brilliant blues, crafted by Tokuda Yasokichi, are on display at the Walters Art Museum. These are (from left) Kabin [Flower Vase], Bluegreen Brilliant Glazed Wave Patterned Jar, and Galaxy. All were created in the early 2000s.
A fellow art lover and I pondered the intricacies of the dots, swirls and color that make this vase so exquisite. It’s the work of Kitamura Junko.
Made with mud, but crafted by geniuses, the more than 30 vases are as beautiful as the flowers they display are part of a new exhibit open Feb. 23 to May 11, at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.
I got a sneak peak of the exhibition, Designed for Flowers: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics just as the final decorations were being mounted on the walls.
Petal was completed in 2010 by Fujino Sachiko.
If you like flowers or pottery if you thrill at the intricate handiwork of another human being, go. The pieces — which also include a few screens and paintings — are part of a 170-piece gift from Betsy and Bob Feinberg, collectors of Japanese art who have given works of art to three museums.
“This exhibit looks forward to spring,” said Robert Mintz, the Walters’ chief curator and Asian art curator.
Shiranase Bunko’s painting “Cherry Blossom Outings” has been paired with a vase by Hajashi Shotaro reminiscent of the Tokonoma — a focal point in a Japanese home for displaying things of beauty.
The works on display are contemporary clay pieces. They are made the same way potters have been creating vases for centuries — but they take advantage of more modern technology and sensibility, too. Each vase is a jewel. With eye-catching shape, glittering colors, no two look alike.
This vase is the work of Hosokawa Morihiro, who took up pottery after he left office as Japan’s prime minister.
One may remind you of a celadon vase in your grandmother’s china cabinet while another looks like it got chipped at one time in its history. And because they are so different, each demands visitors to stop, examine, imagine how they would arrange a branch of cherry blossoms or that single perfect stem in the vase before them.
Inside the exhibit space, tatami mats top benches so visitors can stop and let their gaze fall on one vase or another. Books have been left at each bench for visitors to peruse as well. Those so inspired can even pen their own haiku to the moment, to a particular work of art, or whatever else inspires them. Leave them behind with the others on a display wall or take them home.
Who says you have to be a kid to play with felt? Go ahead and design your own arrangement.
Feel the urge to arrange flowers? Head over to the felt board and design your own vase and fill it as you wish.
The vase with blossoming plum and short poem by Miyagawa Kozan looks out over Charles Street in Hackerman House. It was acquired by Henry Walters iat the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904.
And if this exhibit only whets your appetite for Asian art, I suggest finding your way to the Walters’ extensive Asian collection in Hackerman House. You’ll find Chinese porcelains, an exquisite Japanese study and all manner of arts from China, Japan, Nepal, Korea, India and Tibet. William Walters and his son Henry collected hundreds of pieces from all over Asia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many works were purchased at world fairs.
These little crabs are actually boxes on display in the Hackerman House’s Japanese study.
Before you leave, stop in the Walters’ gift shop for a Japanese memento — there are books, cards, origami, stuff for children and even a few vases for creating your own Japanese style Ikebana flower arrangements.
© Text and photos Mary K. Tilghman
Treasures from the Walters’ gift shop.
A Day Away Travel 
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