Mino ware tea-ceremony water jar

Object Details

• Description

  Brown clay. String-cut flat base. Two thick, horizontal handles. Sculpted with vertical slashes, horizontal incised lines; underglaze iron painted decoration of pine tree on one side, willow tree on the other. Translucent light brown ash glaze; base glazed except in center. Circular scar from clay firing ring in glaze in bottom; four scars around edge of inward-rolled lip where matching clay lid (now lost) was supported for firing.

• Label

  A phenomenon of the Momoyama period was the imitation of popular wares from other kilns. The Motoyashiki kiln in Mino, which produced the earliest Oribe wares, also made Karatsu-style wares using underglaze iron glaze decoration and Iga-style wares. Karatsu kilns in turn made some imitations of unglazed Bizen ware. Such activity was a measure of the enormous commercial success of Momoyama ceramics.

• Provenance

  To 1967

  S. Yabumoto Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. [1]

  From 1967

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from S. Yabumoto, Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. [2]

  Notes:

  [1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Imperfectly Beautiful: Inventing Japanese Ceramic Style (October 14, 2017 - October 14, 2019)

  Japanese Ceramics from Seto and Mino (January 19, 1996 to August 5, 2001)

  Japanese Ceramics from Past to Present (February 18, 1983 to February 16, 1984)

  Japanese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to January 17, 1980)

  Japanese Art: Paintings and Pottery (July 1, 1966 to May 2, 1973)

• Previous custodian or owner

  S. Yabumoto Co., Ltd.

• Origin

  Motoyashiki kiln, Toki city, Gifu prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• 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

  1610s, 1600s

• Name

  S. Yabumoto Co., Ltd.

• Place

  Motoyashiki kiln, Toki city, Japan, Gifu prefecture

• Topic

  Trees, Pine tree, Water, Tea, Art, Momoyama period (1573 - 1615), Stoneware, Japanese Art, Ceramics, Mino ware, Mino Karatsu type

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)