Medicine case (inro) with design of iris bridges (yatsuhashi); one of a set with F1984.45b (ojime) and F1984.45c (netsuke)

Object Details

• Artist

  Miura Ken'ya (1821-1889)

• Description

  Description: Four-part inro in form of flattened rectangle with rounded corners (probably derived from the coin called ryo). The inset rim of each of the three compartments fits into the base of the compartment above it or into the lid. The four components are secured by a blue-green silk cord passing through two holes in each of the elements, tied in a bow below and secured by the bead (F1984.45b) above and atttached to the toggle (F1984.45c) at the end.

  Clay: Light red, fine-grained earthenware.

  Glaze: clear, colorless lead glaze, crackled.

  Decoration: in underglaze pigments (black, purple, green, blue, white, orange), similar designs of iris and eight-fold bridge (yatsuhashi), stream and banks, bands of mist, on both sides; flying bird on one side only.

• Inscriptions

  Signature: Ken'ya, written in black pigment inside rectangular frame, on lower edge of bottom compartment; concealed by knotted cord.

• Label

  The subject is the "eight bridges" episode off the Tales of Ise, a favorite motif in the Rimpa school, expecially in Korin painting and Kenzan ceramics (see F1902.220). This version suggests the participation of a professional decorator. The bold distortion characteristic of Rimpa is absent; something of late-Edo period naturalism is hinted in the perspective, tonal variations, and flying insects. This manner may have been absorbed from the school of painter Tani Buncho (1764-1840), with whom Ken'ya is occasionally associated.

• Provenance

  To about 1979

  Mr. Hadad, to about 1979 [1]

  About 1979

  Stanley D. Fishman, Silver Spring, MD, about 1979

  From 1984

  Freer Gallery of Art, given by Stanley D. Fishman in 1984

  Notes:

  [1] According to Mr. Fishman, this piece was acquired circa 1979 from a gallery on Wisconsin Avenue run by a Mr. Hadad (see Curatorial Note 5, Louise Cort, July 27, 2004, in object record).

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Potter's Brush: The Kenzan Style in Japanese Ceramics (December 9, 2001 to October 27, 2002)

  Japanese Art of the Meiji Era (September 20, 1997 to April 26, 1998)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Stanley D. Fishman

• Origin

  Mukojima, Tokyo, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Stanley D. Fishman

• Type

  Container

• 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.

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• Name

  Fishman, Stanley D.

• Place

  Tokyo, Japan, Mukojima

• Topic

  Water, Medicine, Bridges, Iris, Art, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ceramics, Rivers

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Containers