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Tea bowl or serving bowl

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At A Glance

Period

second half of 17th century
Geography

Wakan (Waegwan) kiln, Busan city, Gyeongsangnam-do province, Korea
Material

Stoneware with white inlay under transparent glaze
Dimension

H x Diam: 7.6 × 16.4 cm (3 × 6 7/16 in)
Accession Number

F1907.89
EDAN ID

edanmdm:fsg_F1907.89

Object Details

Description

Tea bowl. Irregular rim, one notch in foot, four spurmarks inside.

Clay: medium stoneware fired brown.

Glaze: transparent with cream areas.

Decoration: slip drawing under glaze.
Label

Even after Korean potters had established workshops in Japan, Japanese tea masters continued to place orders for tea bowls to be made at Korean government-sponsored kilns near Pusan. Such bowls were fabricated according to sketches or wooden models (gohon). So-called Gohon bowls echoed the styles of various 16th-century Korean bowl types, including mishima, that had become established as tea-ceremony classics, but they conformed to the revived preference for thin, well-finished wares.
Provenance

To 1907

Unidentifiedn owner, Japan, to 1907 [1]

From 1907 to 1919

Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased in Japan from an unidentified owner in 1907 [2]

From 1920

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 1567, 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

Cornucopia: Ceramics of Southern Japan (December 19, 2009 to January 9, 2011)

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

Kyoto Ceramics (November 9, 1984 to April 25, 1985)

Japanese Art (January 1, 1963 to July 1, 1966)

Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 1 and 2 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)
Previous custodian or owner

Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
Origin

Wakan (Waegwan) kiln, Busan city, Gyeongsangnam-do province, Korea
Credit Line

Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Type

Vessel
Restrictions and Rights

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