Bottle

Object Details

• Description

  Bottle: small, irregular, ellipsoidal; spiral corrugated ridges.

  Clay: hard, gray. Stoneware, brown on surface.

  Glaze: thin reddish wash with olive drops; partly disintegrated.

• Label

  In Japan unglazed stoneware containers such as this one were known as Namban (southern barbarian) ware. Used for transporting some sort of liquid, bottles of this shape were widely dispersed in East and Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. They were of an appropriate size to serve as hanging vases in the tearoom, suspended from a hook in the display alcove wall or adjacent wooden pillar. They were known as chimaki vases because of their resemblance to a conical sweet made for the Fifth Day, Fifth Month festival.

• Provenance

  To 1917

  John Fenning, New York, to 1917 [1]

  From 1917 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from John Fenning in 1917 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2517, 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

  The Tea Ceremony as Melting Pot (January 31 to July 18, 2004)

• Previous custodian or owner

  John Fenning (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Zhejiang, Anhui, or Jiangsu province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1500s, 1660s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Fenning, John

• Place

  Jiangsu province, Zhejiang, China, Anhui

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Stoneware, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Ceramics, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)