Mino ware tea-ceremony water jar in shape of bamboo stem

Object Details

• Description

  Buff clay. Trimmed foot rim, slightly concave base. Body gooved to suggest nodes in bamboo stem; lugs (partially missing, repaired with gold lacquer) shaped as trimmed shoots; one "leaf" molded in relief; round bosses around base represent trimmed roots. Transparent yellow ash glaze, stained brown in crackles, with areas of copper-green; brown iron slip on base. Gold lacquer repairs on rim.

• Label

  Subtle splashes of copper under the lustrous ash glaze reveal the connection to earlier Yellow Seto ware, although the glaze has changed. The base of a large bamboo trunk provides the formal metaphor, with shoot-shaped handles and iron wash accentuating the base where clay buttons suggest root-ends.

• 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] See Original Pottery List, L. 115, 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

  The Idea of China in Japan: The Tea Ceremony in Japan (December 19, 1999 to June 11, 2000)

  The Glazed Ceramic Tradition of Mino and Seto Wares (April 26, 1985 to January 13, 1986)

• 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, Aichi 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

  Aichi prefecture, Japan, Seto kilns

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)