Karatsu ware ewer or freshwater jar

Object Details

• Description

  Squat cylindrical pitcher with twisted rope handle and folded-over spout; lacquer cover. Karatsu ware. Style of Chosen garatsu.

  Clay: grayish stoneware, medium coarse, fired reddish brown where unglazed.

  Glaze: dark greenish brown flowing down over cream; iron-ash glaze and rice-straw ash glaze.

  Decoration: glaze pattern only.

• Label

  This vessel combines a body shaped by coiling, then finishing with paddle and anvil, with a hand-formed spout and handle. The technique was introduced to Japan by immigrant Korean potters and used for utilitarian vessel shapes. The two-color glaze combination, associated with a type of Karatsu ware known as "Korean Karatsu," is found on early Agano and Takatori wares as well.

• Provenance

  To 1898

  Yamanaka & Company, 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] See Original Pottery List, L. 177, 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.

  [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

  Imperfectly Beautiful: Inventing Japanese Ceramic Style (October 14, 2017 - October 14, 2019)

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

  Freer: A Taste for Japanese Art (July 1, 2006 to January 1, 2007)

  Japanese Screens (May 9, 1993 to November 13, 1995)

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

  Japanese Ceramics (June 22, 1982 to September 27, 1982)

  Japanese Ceramics/Puppets (June 16, 1980 to July 14, 1980)

  Japanese Ceramics (July 15, 1980 to June 21, 1982)

  Japanese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to January 17, 1980)

  Japanese Art (July 1, 1974 to April 10, 1978)

  Japanese Art: Paintings and Pottery (July 1, 1966 to May 2, 1973)

  Japanese Art (January 1, 1963 to July 1, 1966)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 1 and 2 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)

• 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, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

  This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1590s, 1610s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Japan, Saga prefecture

• Topic

  Karatsu ware, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Momoyama period (1573 - 1615), Stoneware, Japanese Art, Lacquer, Ceramics

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)