Glaze: clear glaze over white slip brushed on irregularly; crackled. Glaze roughened, blistered and chipped. Mostly lost from foot.
Provenance:
Prince of Kaga Collection, Kanazawa, Japan [1]
To 1897
Yamanaka & Company, to 1897 [2]
From 1897 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1897 [3]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]
Notes:
[1] This is one of ten tea bowls (F1897.81 - F1897.90) acquired as a group from the former collection of the "Prince of Kaga." presumably the last head of the Maeda house, the daimyo family that had served as feudal lords of Kaga Province (now part of Ishikawa prefecture, centering around the castle town of Kanazawa) since the beginning of the 17th century.
[2] See Original Pottery List, L. 684, 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.
[3] See note 2.
[4] 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
Previous custodian or owner:
Maeda daimyo of Kaga
Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
