Tea-ceremony water jar

Object Details

• Description

  Light gray clay. Two handles shaped like silk-cord knots. Vestiges of decoration in underglaze cobalt on walls. Clear glaze, crackled, gray-green where thick, partially wiped off base. Thin, clear glaze on inside; three small spur marks in bottom. Large, irregular circular scar on base.

• 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. 114, 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

  Seasons: Tea (February 5 to August 7, 2011)

  Seasons: Arts of Japan (February 5, 2011 to January 13, 2013)

  Japanese Ceramics from Seto and Mino (January 19, 1996 to August 5, 2001)

  Garden Potteries and Official Kilns: Clan-Sponsored Ceramics in the Edo Period (January 16, 1986 to November 3, 1986)

  Japanese Ceramics from Past to Present (February 18, 1983 to February 16, 1984)

• 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

  Usage Conditions Apply

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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, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Japan, Gifu prefecture, Mino kilns

• Topic

  Water, Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Lacquer repair, Stoneware, Mino ware, Ofuke type, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Lacquer, Ceramics

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)