Kyoto ware tea bowl for the New Year, with three impressed seals reading "Shuhei"

Object Details

• Artist

  Ogata Shuhei (1788-1839)

• Description

  Tea bowl, ovoidal; bold unglazed foot.

  Clay: dense, gray-white, showing grayish-buff under glaze.

  Glaze: translucent, uneven, crackled

  Decoration: over glaze, mouse and flaming jewel; ornamental seal; flecks of gold.

  Three seals, one on foot and two on body: Shuhei [Jpn]

• Label

  Younger brother of Nin'ami Dohachi, Ogata Shuhei allegedly adopted the surname Ogata out of reverence for Ogata Kenzan, the foremost Kyoto potter of the early 18th century. The enamel designs of a rat embracing a flaming jewel and an ornamental seal reading "long life" and "treasure" show that the bowl was intended for use in New Year's festivities beginning a Year of the Rat (possibly 1816 or 1828). Season-specific tea bowls abound among Kyoto decorated ceramics.

• Provenance

  To 1898

  A.D. Vorce and Co., Hartford, CT, to 1898 [1]

  From 1898 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from A.D. Vorce and Co. in 1898 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 323, 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

  Kyoto Ceramics (November 9, 1984 to April 25, 1985)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  A. D. Vorce and Co. (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Kyoto, Kyoto prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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  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, A. D. Vorce and Co.

• Place

  Kyoto, Japan, Kyoto prefecture

• Topic

  New year, Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Stoneware, Kyoto ware, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Rats, Enamel and enameling, Ceramics

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)