Water jar with design of maple leaves

Object Details

• Artist

  Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743)

  Edo-Iriya Workshop

• Description

  Tea ceremony freshwater jar (mizusashi) in style of Dutch earthenware. Globular jar, low foot set slightly inside base. Black lacquer cover.

  Clay: medium gray stoneware.

  Glaze: cream colored, crackled and somewhat stained.

  Decoration: green network framing red, blue, black, and yellow leaves in overglaze enamels.

  Signed Kenzan on base.

• Signatures

  Kenzan on base

• Label

  The lacquer lid suggests that this piece was used as a water jar for the tea ceremony, although similar pieces, fitted with metal lids, were used as incense burners. The shape is exotic, recalling something nonindigenous such as Delft or even more so Italian Majolica ware. The decoration is in the Kenzan tradition, recalling camellia designs depicted in white against a green ground; this was a stock Kenzan-ware item in the second quarter of the eighteenth century.

  Two similar pieces exist, another in the Freer collection (F1905.24) and one in the collection of the Idemitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo.

• Provenance

  To 1904

  Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921), Kidderminster, England, to 1904 [1]

  From 1904 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), given by Michael Tomkinson in 1904 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, S.I. 385, 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

  Tea Bowls in Bloom: Botanical Decoration on Tea Ceremony Ceramics (February 3 to July 15, 2007)

  The Potter's Mark: Tea Ceramics and Their Makers (August 18, 2007 to February 24, 2008)

  The Potter's Brush: The Kenzan Style in Japanese Ceramics (December 9, 2001 to October 27, 2002)

  Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons in Japanese Art (September 14, 1977 to April 8, 1978)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Iriya, Tokyo, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  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, Tomkinson, Michael

• Place

  Iriya, Tokyo, Japan

• Topic

  Water, Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Lacquer, Ceramics

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)