Bowl

Object Details

• Description

  Bowl, wide, shallow; small, low foot. Brown lacquer repairs.

  Clay: hard, brownish-gray.

  Glaze: a heavy cream-colored slip, with brownish stains, under a brilliant, transparent over-glaze.

  Decoration: stamped in paste and exposed in the dark body-color.

  Spurs: sprinkled coarse sand.

• Label

  The thick white slip was only partially brushed from the interior, obscuring the stamped overall "rope curtain" pattern, accented at the rim with hand-carved hatching. An illegible stamped character indicates that the bowl was made for use as tableware in a government office. In Japan, where it was carefully repaired with silver lacquer, its fresh color and open shape would have suited it for use as a summer tea bowl.

• Provenance

  To 1904

  Yamanaka & Company, to 1904 [1]

  From 1904 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1904 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] Undated folder sheet note.

  Also see Original Pottery List, L. 1293, 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

  Cranes and Clouds: The Korean Art of Ceramic Inlay (November 5, 2011 to January 3, 2016)

  Korean Influences on Japanese Slip-Decorated Ceramics (February 16, 1984 to November 9, 1984)

  Untitled Exhibition, The Japan Society, February 1914 (February 1914)

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Gyeryongsan kilns, Gongju city, Chungcheongnam-do province, Korea

• 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

  1540s, 1400s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Gyeryongsan kilns, Chungcheongnam-do province, Gongju city, Korea

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Inlay (process), Buncheong ware, Joseon period (1392 - 1910), Clear glaze, Lacquer repair, Stoneware, Lacquer, Korean Art, Ceramics

• Culture

  Koreans

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)