Koto ware tea bowl with design of yuzuriha

Object Details

• Description

  Tea bowl, ovoidal, on short, expanding foot.

  Clay: hard, sonorous; porcelain

  Glaze: creamy, tinged with pinkish-tan, over white slip; orange flush on foot where clay is exposed

  Decoration: painted in Seto cobalt under glaze, bamboo grass (sasa)

  Seal: Koto [Jpn], inside double oval, impressed outside foot.

• Marks

  Seal: Koto [Jpn], inside double oval, impressed outside foot.

• Label

  The Koto official kiln operated for the Ii domain of Hikone, near Kyoto, only from 1842-1862. Staffed by potters from Seto, Kutani and Kyoto, it specialized in porcelain. Although executed in porcelain, this bowl has been coated with thick white slip to replicate the appearance of certain Korean tea bowls. The sixteenth lord of the domain, Naosuke, was a noted tea master, and records document his frequent use of new Koto tea wares in ceremonies conducted in Hikone Castle.

  The yuzuriha (Daphniphillum macropodum) is an auspicious plant conveying the hope that the father will not pass away before this son has become an adult able to succeed (yuzuru) him. It is incorporated into New Year decorations for the household doorway.

• 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 Boston in 1901 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

  Notes:

  [1]

  See Pottery List, L. 1010, 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

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

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

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

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 3 and 4 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Hikone, Shiga prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1840s, 1690s, 1680s, 1850s, 1860s, 1670s, 1660s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Matsuki, Bunkio

• Place

  Shiga prefecture, Japan, Hikone

• Topic

  Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Porcelain, Art, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Koto ware, Ceramics, Bamboo

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)