Tea bowl, Takatori or Satsuma ware

Object Details

• Description

  Cylindrical tea bowl (hanzutsu chawan).

  Clay: fine gray stoneware, oxidized on unglazed footrim. Marks of three ribbed shells used as firing supports beneath foot.

  Glazes: several shades of gray and brown. Iron and straw-ash glazes.

  Decoration: pattern formed by overlapping of glazes.

• Label

  This cylindrical tea bowl with a complex and carefully calculated pattern of glazes illustrates the difficulty of identifying the wares of southern Japanese kilns operating in the seventeenth century, when styles quickly moved from one kiln to another. This manner of applying multiple glazes in patchwork fashion is associated with the Shirahatayama kiln (operated circa 1630-1665) making Takatori ware, but it is also found on tea bowls made at kilns in Satsuma province.

• Provenance

  To 1899

  Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1899 [1]

  From 1899 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in 1899 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Pottery List, L. 418, 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

• Exhibition History

  Japanese Ceramics (June 22, 1982 to September 27, 1982)

  Japanese Ceramics/Puppets (June 16, 1980 to July 14, 1980)

  Japanese Ceramics (July 15, 1980 to June 21, 1982)

  Japanese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to January 17, 1980)

  Japanese Art (July 1, 1974 to April 10, 1978)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Bunkio Matsuki 松木文恭 (1867-1940) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Shirahatayama kiln, Fukuoka prefecture or Kagoshima 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, Matsuki, Bunkio

• Place

  Fukuoka prefecture, Shirahatayama kiln, Japan, Kagoshima prefecture

• Topic

  Tea, Rice-straw-ash glaze, Charles Lang Freer collection, Takatori ware, Art, Stoneware, Satsuma ware, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Brown and black glaze, Ceramics

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)