Cylindrical tea bowl with inlaid design of cranes and clouds

Object Details

• Description

  Cylindrical tea-bowl, Gohon Tachizuru type.

  Deep cylindrical, on low, retired foot. Cracked.

  Clay: hard, dense

  Glaze: transparent, opaque grayish-white where thick

  Decoration: incised and inlaid in white and black paste under glaze.

• Label

  Made in Korea for the Japanese market, this bowl bears an auspicious design of cranes and clouds (a wish for long life) executed with black and white liquid clays inlaid in the incised motifs. Irregular flow of oxygen in the kiln during firing produced the subtle variations in the clay color, much appreciated by tea connoisseurs.

• Provenance

  To 1898

  Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1898 [1]

  From 1898 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1898 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Pottery List, L. 550, 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

  Korean Tea Bowls for Japan (July 1, 2012 to August 20, 2013)

  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)

  Korean Influences on Japanese Slip-Decorated Ceramics (February 16, 1984 to November 9, 1984)

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Wakan (Waegwan) kiln, Busan city, Gyeongsangnam-do province, Korea

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Wakan, Busan city, Gyeongsangnam-do province, Korea

• Topic

  Art, Inlay (process), Stoneware, Korean Art, Ceramics, Crane, Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Joseon period (1392 - 1910), Clear glaze, White slip, Wood-ash glaze, Busan ware

• Culture

  Koreans

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)