Tea bowl

Object Details

• Description

  Cup of deep partially cylindrical shape; notched foot.

  Clay: gray stoneware, medium, fired chocolate brown.

  Glaze: crackled celadon.

  Decoration: white slip and touches of black under glaze.

• Inscriptions

  The following information was carved on the box in which this object arrived: T'ang jen ti. Yun-ho [chn].

• Label

  A certain type of Joseon period tea bowl continued the auspicious motifs, known on slip-inlaid Goryeo celadon, of cranes and clouds. Japanese tea men called such bowls Unkaku. This bowl has been said by some scholars to be Korean, but stylizations in the shapes of body and foot, the thoughtful placement of the stamped motifs, and the fine-grained dark clay all suggest a product of the Yatsushiro kilns In Japan.

• Provenance

  To 1900

  Ikeda Seisuke (1839-1900), Kyoto, to 1900 [1]

  To 1906

  S. Ikeda, Tokyo, to 1906 [2]

  From 1906 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from S. Ikeda in 1906 [3]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 1458, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1. It is probable that S. Ikeda refers to Ikeda Sei’emon (or Seisuke II), the eldest son of the well-known Japanese dealer and collector Ikeda Seisuke (1839-1900). Ikeda Sei’emon maintained shops in Tokyo and Kyoto under the trade name S. Ikeda & Co. After the death of his father, Ikeda Sei’emon sold a number of objects from his father's collection (Ikeda Collection).

  [3] See notes 1 and 2.

  [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

  Ikeda Seisuke (1839-1900)

  S. Ikeda (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Yatsushiro, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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• 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, Ikeda, Seisuke, Ikeda, S.

• Place

  Yatsushiro, Japan, Kumamoto prefecture

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)