Tea bowl in mishima style, Karatsu ware

Object Details

• Description

  Tea bowl, deep ovoidal, on high notched base. Gold lacquer repair on rim.

  Clay: hard, gray.

  Glaze: bright, gray; lightly crackled.

  Decoration: inlaid in under-glaze white, on both surfaces.

• Label

  Made at one of the kilns in southern Japan established by immigrant Korean potters, this bowl uses a Korean decorative technique of enduring popularity. Known in Japan as mishima, the decoration employs white clay solution (slip) brushed over stamped or incised motifs to create subtly irregular patterns. The vessel is then coated with clear glaze, through which the patterns may be seen.

• Provenance

  To 1897

  Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1897 [1]

  From 1897 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1897 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 527, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [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

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

  Freer and Tea: 100 Years of The Book of Tea (November 19, 2005 to May 29, 2006)

  Japanese Art (November 7, 1986 to July 19, 1988)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Saga prefecture or Fukuoka prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Fukuoka prefecture, Japan, Saga prefecture

• Topic

  Karatsu ware, Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Takatori ware, Art, Inlay (process), White slip, Stoneware, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Pottery, Ceramics

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)