Tea bowl, possibly Rakuzan ware

Object Details

• Description

  Tea bowl. Five spur marks inside. Gold lacquer repairs.

  Clay: light, dense, gray-white. Dark brown where exposed.

  Glaze: cream-white and warm cream-yellow; fissured, pitted, and chipped. Interior of footrim glazed. Five firing scars in bottom.

• Label

  This tea bowl was made at a Japanese kiln following conventions of Korean tea bowls, including five spurs marks in the bottom, but the exact place of its production has not yet been determined. One possibility is the Rakuzan kiln, which operated on a small scale in the castle town of Matsue and specialized in tea wares.

• Provenance

  Prince of Kaga Collection, Kanazawa, Japan [1]

  To 1897

  Yamanaka & Company, New York 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 (see Curatorial Remark 10, Louise Cort, September 1982, in the object record).

  [2] See Original Pottery List, L. 691, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [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

  Boxed In: Japanese Ceramics and Their Storage Boxes (September 23, 1982 to February 17, 1983)

• 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

  possibly Rakuzan kiln, Matsue, Shimane prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

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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, 1860s, 1670s, 1660s

• Name

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

• Place

  Matsue, Japan, Shimane prefecture, Rakuzan kiln

• Topic

  Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Stoneware, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ceramics, Rakuzan ware, Haiku

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)