Vase

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to Takemoto Hayata (1848-1892)

• Description

  Pear-shaped vase with slightly everted rim, fairly short neck, and bulbous shape tapering to flat base with visible footring cut from sides and foot.

  Clay: Porcelain; footrim darkened on surface by use.

  Glaze: Brown (iron) glaze applied to interior, rim and base. Brown drained from rim during firing, leaving area white. Blue (cobalt) glaze, applied to exterior, is densest around the neck and sides of the body. Blue appears mottled on body and slightly pooled at the outer edge of the foot. Where the glaze has separated between the body and the foot, a band of white is revealed. Unglazed footrim.

  Decoration: none

  Mark: none

  Two paper labels: "CMK 30" and "KM 11". Sticker on base gives price of $20.00.

• Marks

  Two paper labels: "CMK 30" and "KM 11". Sticker on base gives price of $20.00.

• Label

  This vase was part of a collection formed by Charles M. Kurtz (1855-1909), during the period when he served as assistant art director for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and art director for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Centennial International Exposition in St. Louis. Kurtz's collecting focused on porcelain with highly colored glazed. Along with these pieces by prominent Japanese potters, Kurtz acquired vases of similar shapes and colors from American and European factories. Kurtz's collection, representative of a broad popular interest in Japanese art in the late nineteenth century, also reflects the growing internationalism in the decoration of ceramics resulting from rapid exchange of information and technology facilitated by the international fairs.

• Provenance

  To ?

  Charles M. Kurtz (1855-1909). [1]

  To 1991

  Isabel S. Kurtz (1901-1991). [2]

  From 1991

  Freer Gallery of Art, bequest of Isabel S. Kurtz (1901-1991). [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Ms. Isabel Kurtz bequeathed the group of Asian ceramics, F1991.19-.44, to the Freer Gallery of Art.

  These objects had been collected by her father, Charles M. Kurtz, who was a friend of Charles Freer.

  Also see Curatorial Remark 2 in the object record.

  [2] See note 1. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 file, Collections Management Office.

  [3] See note 2.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Charles M. Kurtz (1855-1909)

  Isabel S. Kurtz (1901-1991)

• Origin

  Tokyo, Japan

• Credit Line

  Bequest of Isabel S. Kurtz

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1910s, 1890s

• Name

  Kurtz, Isabel S., Kurtz, Charles M.

• Place

  Tokyo, Japan

• Topic

  Porcelain, Art, Cobalt glaze, Japanese Art, Brown and black glaze, Ceramics, Meiji era (1868 - 1912)

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)