Satsuma ware tea-ceremony water jar in the shape of a well curb

Object Details

• Description

  Water-jar (mizusashi) in form of a well-head, quadrilateral, cypress (sugi) wood cover with nashiji lacquer lining and metal ornaments of crab and bird.

  Clay: hard, dense, cream-colored stoneware

  Glaze: transparent, finely crackled

  Decoration: in pink, light green and pale lavender enamels and gold, over glaze. Chrysanthemums, grasses and vines outside. Peony scroll band at top of inside. Underglaze impression of grasses outside.

• Label

  In the tea ceremony, the water jar holds cold water used to replenish the kettle as boiling water is ladled out to make bowls of tea. Tea practitioners paid special attention to certain famous wells as sources of delicious water-a key element in Japanese gardens. This jar's form represents the wooden curb surrounding such a well. Chrysanthemums rendered in pale colors and gold suggest a private garden setting enclosing the well and also indicate the season.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Cornucopia: Ceramics of Southern Japan (December 19, 2009 to January 9, 2011)

  East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)

  Freer: A Taste for Japanese Art (July 1, 2006 to January 1, 2007)

  Games, Contests and Artful Play in Japan (March 19 to October 23, 2005)

  Garden Potteries and Official Kilns: Clan-Sponsored Ceramics in the Edo Period (January 16, 1986 to November 3, 1986)

  Japanese Art—Autumn Voices (October 14, 1981 to December 16, 1981)

  Japanese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to January 17, 1980)

  Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons in Japanese Art (September 14, 1977 to April 8, 1978)

• Origin

  Kagoshima prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1880s, 1890s

• Place

  Japan, Kagoshima prefecture

• Topic

  Water, Art, Stoneware, Crabs, Ceramics, Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Crustaceans, Peony, Japanese Art, Lacquer, Swallow, Satsuma ware, Nishiki type, Meiji era (1868 - 1912)

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)