Tea bowl

Object Details

• Description

  Bowl, broad inverted bell-shape; rough foot.

  Clay: hard, dense, grayish.

  Glaze: glassy gray-brown; lustreless cream pool where glaze and slip have accumulated in bottom. Interior of footrim glazed.

  Decoration: inlaid in cream-white.

• Provenance

  To 1903

  Hirase Roko (1829-1908), Osaka, Japan, to 1903 [1]

  From 1903 to 1904

  Yamanaka & Company, acquired from Hirase Roko in 1903 [2]

  From 1904 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company, New York, NY,

  in 1904 [3]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

  Notes:

  [1] See Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record, as well as Curatorial Remark 12, Louise Cort, 1987, Curatorial Remark 22, Louise Cort, September 18, 2009, and Curatorial Remark 23, Louise Cort, March 31, 2011, in the object record.

  [2] The Hirase collection was sold at auctions in 1903 and 1906. The 1903 sale, held on April 8, was managed in part by Yamanaka Kichirobei, and this fact presumably accounts for the fact that Freer acquired three former Hirase pieces from Yamanaka & Company (see F1904.317, F1904.319a-b, and F1904.326). These ceramic pieces had been offered in the New York sale, but were sold to Charles Lang Freer at a later date by Yamanaka (according to Curatorial Remark 12, Louise A. Cort, 1987, and Curatorial Remark 23, Louise Cort, March 31, 2011, in the object record).

  [3] See note 2. See also, Original Pottery List, L. 1317, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [4] 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

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Hirase Roko (1829-1908)

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Rakuzan kiln, Matsue, Shimane 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, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Hirase, Roko, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Matsue, Japan, Shimane prefecture, Rakuzan kiln

• Topic

  Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Stoneware, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ceramics, Rakuzan ware

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)