Stoneware with iron and rice-straw ash glazes; lacquered wooden lid
Dimensions:
H x W x D: 17.2 x 24.6 x 14.2 cm (6 3/4 x 9 11/16 x 5 9/16 in)
Style:
Karatsu ware, Chosen Karatsu type
Type:
Vessel
Origin:
Saga prefecture, Japan
Date:
1596-1615
Period:
Momoyama period
Description:
Squat cylindrical pitcher with twisted rope handle and folded-over spout; lacquer cover. Karatsu ware. Style of Chosen garatsu.
Clay: grayish stoneware, medium coarse, fired reddish brown where unglazed.
Glaze: dark greenish brown flowing down over cream; iron-ash glaze and rice-straw ash glaze.
Decoration: glaze pattern only.
Label:
This vessel combines a body shaped by coiling, then finishing with paddle and anvil, with a hand-formed spout and handle. The technique was introduced to Japan by immigrant Korean potters and used for utilitarian vessel shapes. The two-color glaze combination, associated with a type of Karatsu ware known as "Korean Karatsu," is found on early Agano and Takatori wares as well.
Provenance:
To 1898
Yamanaka & Company, to 1898 [1]
From 1898 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1898 [2]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
Notes:
[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 177, 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:
Imperfectly Beautiful: Inventing Japanese Ceramic Style (October 14, 2017 - October 14, 2019)
Cornucopia: Ceramics of Southern Japan (December 19, 2009 to January 9, 2011)
Freer: A Taste for Japanese Art (July 1, 2006 to January 1, 2007)
Japanese Screens (May 9, 1993 to November 13, 1995)
Japanese Art (November 7, 1986 to July 19, 1988)
Japanese Ceramics (June 22, 1982 to September 27, 1982)
Japanese Ceramics/Puppets (June 16, 1980 to July 14, 1980)
Japanese Ceramics (July 15, 1980 to June 21, 1982)
Japanese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to January 17, 1980)
Japanese Art (July 1, 1974 to April 10, 1978)
Japanese Art: Paintings and Pottery (July 1, 1966 to May 2, 1973)
Japanese Art (January 1, 1963 to July 1, 1966)
Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 1 and 2 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)
Previous custodian or owner:
Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
