Mino ware tea bowl

Object Details

• Description

  Buff clay, reddish brown on part of surface on one side. String-cutting mark visible on trimmed foot rim. Yellow ash glaze, appearing olive-green where thick, stained brown in crackles, ending in beads. Inside of foot rim unglazed. On inside wall, single brown streak of iron; in bottom, pool of dark green glaze with opaque bluish white spot in center. Extensive lacquer repairs to breaks and chips.

• 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. 576, 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

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Mino kilns, Gifu 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

  1580s, 1570s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Japan, Gifu prefecture, Mino kilns

• Topic

  Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Mino ware, Art, Muromachi period (1333 - 1573), Momoyama period (1573 - 1615), Stoneware, Japanese Art, Lacquer, Ceramics, Seto ware

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)