Triangular water jar

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to Raku Sonyu (1664-1716)

• Description

  Water-jar, triangular. Pottery cover.

  Clay: dense, soft, gray-white.

  Glaze: very dark greenish-brown, revealing yellow under.

  Decoration: carved in relief in paste. Five ideographs.

• Label

  The inscription on the outside of the box lid attributes this water jar (mizusashi) to the fifth master of the Raku workshop, Sonyu (d. 1716). The inscription on the inside of the lid, bearing a black "Raku" seal that resembles Sonyu's, gives the five-character phrase written in relief of the jar. The famous phrase, derived from the "Analects" of Confucius, appears on the first clause of Prince Shotoku's Seventeen-Article Constitution, issued in A.D. 604: "Harmony is to be valued." The ideal of harmony (wa) was emphasized by Edo-period tea-ceremony theory, in part under the influence of the revival of Confucian studies by the Tokugawa government.

• Provenance

  To 1901

  Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1901 [1]

  From 1901 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in 1901 [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. 999, 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

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

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Kyoto, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• 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

  Kyoto, Japan

• Topic

  Water, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Pottery, Ceramics, Raku ware

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)