Water jar with design of reeds and water

Object Details

• Description

  Buff clay. Iron-bearing slip coating upper surface of rim and used to paint three sprays of bamboo on body under glaze. Cream-colored feldspathic glaze, coarsely crackled, finger wiped and brushed decoratively. Foot rim and base unglazed. Seven spur marks (from clay wads) in bottom; six spur marks on base inside foot rim. Inscription, "uebito" (courtier) or "shonin" (high-ranking Buddhist priest), written in ink on base.

• Inscriptions

  Inscription, "uebito" (courtier) or "shonin" (high-ranking Buddhist priest), written in ink on base. The ink inscription can be read in two ways, but either reading suggests that the vessel was reserved for special use.

• 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] See Original Pottery List, L. 38, 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

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Seto kilns, Seto, Aichi prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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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, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Aichi prefecture, Japan, Seto, Seto kilns

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Priest, Stoneware, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ceramics, Seto ware, Iron pigment

• Culture

  Buddhists, Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)