Stoneware with cobalt pigment under clear glaze; gold lacquer repairs
Dimensions:
H x W x D: 18.4 x 18 x 18 cm (7 1/4 x 7 1/16 x 7 1/16 in)
Style:
Mino ware, Ofuke type
Type:
Vessel
Origin:
Mino kilns, Gifu prefecture, Japan
Date:
1630-1660
Period:
Edo period
Description:
Light gray clay. Two handles shaped like silk-cord knots. Vestiges of decoration in underglaze cobalt on walls. Clear glaze, crackled, gray-green where thick, partially wiped off base. Thin, clear glaze on inside; three small spur marks in bottom. Large, irregular circular scar on base.
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] Undated folder sheet note. Also see Original Pottery List, L. 114, 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:
Seasons: Tea (February 5 to August 7, 2011)
Seasons: Arts of Japan (February 5, 2011 to January 13, 2013)
Japanese Ceramics from Seto and Mino (January 19, 1996 to August 5, 2001)
Garden Potteries and Official Kilns: Clan-Sponsored Ceramics in the Edo Period (January 16, 1986 to November 3, 1986)
Japanese Ceramics from Past to Present (February 18, 1983 to February 16, 1984)
Previous custodian or owner:
Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
