Bowl with incised decoration, Dongan-type ware

Object Details

• Description

  Bowl, deep flaring, with upright rim; small, deep foot containing a sharp umbo. Three spur marks inside, under glaze.

  Clay: hard, dense, grayish.

  Glaze: creamy-yellow.

  Decoration: incised in paste under glaze.

• 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. 686, 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

• Exhibition History

  Studies in Connoisseurship 1923-1983 (September 23, 1983 to March 1, 1984)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Maeda daimyo of Kaga

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Fujian province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1100s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Maeda, daimyo of Kaga, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  China, Fujian province

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Green glaze, Dongan-type ware, Stoneware, Chinese Art, Southern Song dynasty (1127 - 1279), Ceramics

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)