Gorohachi or bote-bote tea bowl

Object Details

• Description

  "Gorohachi" tea bowl, ovoidal. Low foot.

  Clay: hard

  Glaze: brilliant grayish-green, mottled with blue, over white and cream. Pinkish-mauve at edges of overflow. Crackled.

• Label

  Kilns along Japan's northern coast made special oversized bowls for a regional manner of tea preparation called bote-bote tea. Rice, beans, or pickles were added to the whisked tea to make a nourishing refreshment. Known as bote-bote or gorohachi bowls, they were also used for drinking sake or water.

• Provenance

  1898

  Japanese Trading Company, 1898 [1]

  From 1898 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Japanese Trading 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. 359, 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

  Tea for...Everyone: Popular Ceramics for Drinking Tea in Japan (March 8 to October 19, 2008)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Japanese Trading Company (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Tottori prefecture or Shimane prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. 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

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1900s, 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, Japanese Trading Company

• Place

  Japan, Shimane prefecture, Tottori prefecture

• Topic

  Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Fujina ware, Ushinoto ware, Stoneware, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ceramics, Meiji era (1868 - 1912)

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)