Tea caddy, katatsuki type, Hirosawa mode, with two lids

Object Details

• Description

  Light buff clay, concealed by iron wash. String-cut base. Opaque reddish brown iron glaze ("persimmon"); shouler coated with black iron glaze running down fromt of jar to base in three trails. Inside glazed.

• Label

  Little iron-glazed jars probably traveled from China to Japan as containers for medicines and other materials, but in Japan they were used for holding the small quantity of tea freshly ground just before serving. Chinese jars were highly valued, but the kilns at Seto and Mino also produce faithful copies, some of which acquired their own prominence. This jar is a later version of a well-known 16th century Seto tea caddy given the name "Hirosawa" by the tea master Kobori Enshu (1579-1647), referring to a classical poem about autumn moonlight on Hirosawa Pond in Kyoto. Such naming was customary for tea-leaf storage jars, bowls, caddies, and other favored utensils.

• Provenance

  To 1901

  Yamanaka & Company, to 1901 [1]

  From 1901 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1901 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 1025, 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

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

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

  Luminous Shadows (April 1, 1982 to June 21, 1982)

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Heiji kiln, Seto, Aichi prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

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• 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, Heiji kiln

• Topic

  Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Ivory, Stoneware, Kyoto ware, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Brown and black glaze, Ceramics, Seto ware

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)