Cylindrical tea bowl, unknown Raku ware workshop

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed by accompanying document to Hon'ami Koetsu 本阿弥光悦 (1558-1637)

• Description

  Raku ware, unknown workshop, style of Hon'ami Koetsu

  Cylindrical tea bowl

  Brown lacquer repair

  Clay: soft, grayish, Raku type

  Glaze: mingled brick-red and greenish gray. Red Raku glaze.

• Label

  The paper label formerly attached to the box lid for this tall cylindrical bowl relates that it was one of a group of five similar bowls made by Koetsu. It had belonged to the Owari branch of the Tokugawa family that ruled Japan throughout the Edo period, and it had been given to its owner by an unspecified head of the Omote Senke Tea School. A deep crack in the rim that probably occurred during firing has been repaired with red-tinted lacquer.

• Provenance

  To 1899

  Yamanaka & Company, to 1899 [1]

  From 1899 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1899 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] Undated folder sheet note. Also see Original Pottery List, L. 629, 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

  Boxed In: Japanese Ceramics and Their Storage Boxes (September 23, 1982 to February 17, 1983)

  Special Exhibition of Japanese Pottery (October 29, 1971 to October 31, 1971)

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Kyoto, 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

  Kyoto, Japan

• Topic

  Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Lacquer repair, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Lacquer, Ceramics, Raku ware

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)