Kenzan-style ewer with design of plum blossoms

Object Details

• Artist

  Imitation of Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743)

  Kyoto workshop

• Description

  Ewer (mizutsugi), large, semi-ovoidal. Pottery cover.

  Wood handle. Repaired with lacquer and metal clamps.

  Clay: stoneware, fine, hard, buff.

  Glaze: upper body: transparent glaze over white slip, crackled.

  Overglaze enamels of red and green. Lower body: green enamel, crackled.

  Decoration: in cobalt and iron pigments under the clear glaze; red and green enamels; blue glaze.

  Signature. Three seals. Inscription.

• Signatures

  Signature

• Marks

  Three seals

• Inscriptions

  Inscription

• Provenance

  To 1900

  Yamanaka & Company, to 1900 [1]

  From 1900 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1900 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 75, 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 Potter's Brush: The Kenzan Style in Japanese Ceramics (December 9, 2001 to October 27, 2002)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Kyoto, Kyoto prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1890s, 1870s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Kyoto, Japan, Kyoto prefecture

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Japanese Art, Ceramics, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), Plum blossom

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)