Vase

Object Details

• Description

  Jar with wide mouth, slightly averted thin lip and fairly thick rim. Globular body curves under to rest on flat foot trimmed to form footring.

  Clay: Porcelain, footrim darkened on surface by use. Unglazed portion at base turned light brown upon exposure to fire in kiln.

  Glaze: Exterior lip brushed with pink (copper) pigment. Pink pigment appears dusted on to shoulders and body. Some grey and copper-red splotches on body. Colorless glaze applied to interior, exterior and foot. Glaze has left some areas unglazed where it crawled during firing and there is a visible thumbprint on the neck. Unglazed footrim.

  Decoration: The contrasting pink and white pigments provide the simple decoration for this piece.

  Signatures/Inscriptions: Paper label:"CMK 22"

• Marks

  Paper label:"CMK 22"

• 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.

  [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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Charles M. Kurtz (1855-1909)

  Isabel S. Kurtz (1901-1991)

• Origin

  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

  1890s

• Name

  Kurtz, Isabel S., Kurtz, Charles M.

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Porcelain, Art, Japanese Art, Ceramics, Meiji era (1868 - 1912)

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)