Jar

Object Details

• Description

  Jar (F1975.11.1), pedestal foot, with non-original cover (F1975.11.2). Vessel itself is wheel-thrown with prominent finger ridges, a thin straight-sided neck, rounded base set in flaring foot which has two rows of square-cut perforations, eight each, alternating in position. Cover is low-domed with a flaring flat-top knob. Six chips on edge of neck, three of which appear to be old; cover chipped on edge, knob and inside flange.

  Clay: fine, dark-gray stoneware.

  Glaze: vestiges of "natural" ash glaze on shoulder and upper half of body, also inside cover.

  Decoration: none.

• Provenance

  Possibly in possession of a Japanese owner [1]

  From at least 1974 to 1975

  Gilpin House, Alexandria, VA, from at least 1974 [2]

  From 1975

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Gilpin House, June 30, 1975 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] According to a handwritten note that appears to have been provided by the owner, copy in object file: "Stone-ware; very old ancient people as talk Yamato Minzukut (tribe), made and used daily for corn, water, food, etc., buried under ground. Japanese name Yayoizhiki-Doki may be 4,000 or 2,000 years old. Shell-mound. Old Tomb of Noblemen in Tokyo, Nara and many. This apparatus was not Korea's, so old time civilization advanced from our country. My grandfather very fond of curios, but many times fire burned many old curios."

  [2] See a receipt issued by the Freer Gallery on October 17, 1974, acknowledging the delivery of the object from Gilpin House Antiques to the Freer for the consideration for purchase, copy in object file.

  [3] See Invoice issued by Gilpin House to the Freer Gallery on June 30, 1975, copy in object file.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  A Decade of Discovery: Selected Acquisitions 1970-1980 (November 9, 1979 to May 22, 1980)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Gilpin House

• Origin

  Korea

• 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

  500s

• Name

  Gilpin House

• Place

  Korea

• Topic

  Unglazed, Art, Stoneware, Korean Art, Ceramics, Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE - 676 CE)

• Culture

  Koreans

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)