Mino ware tea-ceremony water jar in shape of bamboo stem
Object Details
- Description
- Buff clay. Trimmed foot rim, slightly concave base. Body gooved to suggest nodes in bamboo stem; lugs (partially missing, repaired with gold lacquer) shaped as trimmed shoots; one "leaf" molded in relief; round bosses around base represent trimmed roots. Transparent yellow ash glaze, stained brown in crackles, with areas of copper-green; brown iron slip on base. Gold lacquer repairs on rim.
- Label
- Subtle splashes of copper under the lustrous ash glaze reveal the connection to earlier Yellow Seto ware, although the glaze has changed. The base of a large bamboo trunk provides the formal metaphor, with shoot-shaped handles and iron wash accentuating the base where clay buttons suggest root-ends.
- Provenance
- To 1899
- Yamanaka & Company, to 1899 [1]
- From 1899 to 1919
- Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1899 [2]
- From 1920
- Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
- Notes:
- [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 115, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. The majority of Charles Lang Freer’s purchases from Yamanaka & Company were made at its New York branch. Yamanaka & Company maintained branch offices, at various times, in Boston, Chicago, London, Peking, Shanghai, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. During the summer, the company also maintained seasonal locations in Newport, Bar Harbor, and Atlantic City.
- [2] See note 1.
- [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- The Idea of China in Japan: The Tea Ceremony in Japan (December 19, 1999 to June 11, 2000)
- The Glazed Ceramic Tradition of Mino and Seto Wares (April 26, 1985 to January 13, 1986)
- Previous custodian or owner
- Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
- Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Charles Lang Freer
- Data Source
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Date
- 1800-1830
- Period
- Edo period
- Accession Number
- F1899.74a-b
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Vessel
- Medium
- Stoneware with ash glaze and copper-green pigment, iron slip on base; gold lacquer repairs
- Dimensions
- H x Diam: 18.2 × 18.8 cm (7 3/16 × 7 3/8 in)
- Style
- Seto ware
- Origin
- Seto kilns, Aichi prefecture, Japan
- Related Online Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Topic
- lacquer
- ceramic
- Seto ware
- Edo period (1615 - 1868)
- water
- tea
- Japan
- stoneware
- Japanese Art
- lacquer repair
- Charles Lang Freer collection
- Mino-style ware
- Record ID
- fsg_F1899.74a-b
