Bottle with inlaid decoration of flying cranes and clouds

Object Details

• Description

  Vase: baluster form; flat basal ring; six spur-marks apparent (clay balls on footrim); footrim and base unglazed.

  Clay: hard, dense, sonant.

  Glaze: grayish-green celadon; crackled. Areas of grayish discoloration and of underfiring.

  Decoration: white and black inlay under glaze: five cloud-lappets around neck on shoulder; four flying cranes alternating with clouds.

• Provenance

  To 1908

  Yamanaka & Company, to 1908 [1]

  From 1908 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1908 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Pottery List, L. 1687, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. The majority of Charles Lang Freer’s purchases from Yamanaka & Company were made at its New York branch. Yamanaka & Company maintained branch offices, at various times, in Boston, Chicago, London, Peking, Shanghai, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. During the summer, the company also maintained seasonal locations in Newport, Bar Harbor, and Atlantic City.

  [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

  Cranes and Clouds: The Korean Art of Ceramic Inlay (November 5, 2011 to January 3, 2016)

  Untitled Exhibition, The Japan Society, February 1914 (February 1914)

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Gangjin or Buan kilns, Jeolla-do province, Korea

• 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

  1200s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Gangjin, Jeolla-do province, Buan kilns, Korea

• Topic

  Goryeo period (918 - 1392), Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Inlay (process), Green glaze, Stoneware, Cloud, Korean Art, Ceramics, Crane

• Culture

  Koreans

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)