Tea bowl with design of Mt. Fuji, possibly by an amateur potter, unknown Raku ware workshop

Object Details

• Description

  Clay: soft, resonant, grayish. Raku type.

  Glaze: brilliant, mottled red, pink, and yellow, splashed with various olives and brown. Red slip under glossy, crackled clear glaze: Red Raku glaze.

  Decoration: incised; glazed with white. Mt. Fuji.

  Repaired with gold lacquer and silver clamps.

• Label

  This bowl was sold out of the Hirase Roko collection in 1903 at the same time as two famous Koetsu bowls, "Otogoze" and "Shigure." (Both went directly into other Japanese tea-utensil collections.) When Freer acquired this bowl, it was also attributed to Koetsu. Rather than an outright fake (especially since it is not signed), it seems to be an essay in the manner of Koetsu by an amateur potter. The workmanship is confident and rather competent, suggesting that it is by someone with a fair amount of experience in making tea bowls.

  A clue to a Kyoto origin for this bowl is given by the distinctive clear glaze, with its lustrous surface and large-scale crackle. These same traits can be seen on a Red Raku bowl made by Joshinsai (1705-1751), seventh head of the Omote Senke school of tea, and thought to have been fired at the Raku workshop. Possibly this bowl was also fired at the Raku workshop.

  A further indication of the maker's amateur status is the fact that the cracks and losses in the bowl occurred during firing rather than later during use. A professional potter would have discarded such a flawed bowl rather than repair it.

• 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 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 6, Louise Cort, 1987, Curatorial Remark 8, Louise Cort, September 18, 2009, and Curatorial Remark 9, 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 6, Louise A. Cort, 1987, and Curatorial Remark 9, Louise Cort, March 31, 2011, in the object record).

  [3] See note 2. See also, Original Pottery List, L. 1326, 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

• 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

  Possibly Kyoto, Kyoto prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

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  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1900s, 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

  Kyoto, Japan, Kyoto prefecture

• Topic

  Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Inlay (process), Mount Fuji, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Lacquer, Pottery, Ceramics, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), Raku ware

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)