Tea bowl, Ki-Irabo type

Object Details

• Description

  Tea-bowl, small, flaring, on low foot. Gold lacquer repairs on lip.

  Clay: coarse, hard, reddish. Dark brown on surface.

  Glaze: yellow-brown with olive overflow.

  Decoration: none.

• Label

  The type of tea bowl known in Japan as Ki-Irabo (Yellow Irabo) was made in Korea to Japanese order beginning in the early seventeenth century. This type of bowl is characterized by coarse, stony clay and an ochre-colored ash glaze. Bowls of this type were replicated at various kilns in Japan, including the Karatsu kilns in northern Kyushu and the Rakuzan kiln in Matsue.

• Provenance

  To 1911

  Y. Fujita and Company, Kyoto, to 1911 [1]

  From 1911 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Y. Fujita and Company in 1911 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2163, pg. 552, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Bought by C.L. Freer from Y. Fujita, Kyoto, while on a trip during 1910-1911 (see Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record).

  [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

  Korean Tea Bowls for Japan (July 1, 2012 to August 20, 2013)

  Parades: Freer Ceramics Installed by Gwyn Hanssen Pigott (November 4, 2006 to January 7, 2008)

  Selections from the Japanese Collection (March 22 to November 29, 1999)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Y. Fujita and Company (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  possibly Beopgi-ri kilns, Yangsan city, Gyeongsangnam-do province, Korea

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1610s, 1600s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Fujita

• Place

  Yangsan city, Beopgi-ri kilns, Gyeongsangnam-do province, Korea

• Topic

  Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Joseon period (1392 - 1910), Lacquer repair, Stoneware, Lacquer, Korean Art, Beopgi-ri ware, Ceramics

• Culture

  Koreans

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)