Covered box

Object Details

• Artist

  Inoue Shohei 井上松坪 (1831-1895)

• Description

  Small round box with domed cover, body and lid of almost equal size, small trimmed footrim.

  Clay: Porcelain; footrim darkened on surface by use.

  Glaze: Opaque teal green glaze (colored with cobalt and chromium) applied to exterior of box. Colorless glaze applied to interior and base. Box is unglazed where lid and body overlap. Unglazed footrim.

  Decoration: None.

  Contains mark on base.

• Marks

  Mark: Potter's mark, Zai Heian Shohei sei (Made by Shohei in Heian [Kyoto]), enclosed by double ring, in underglaze cobalt on base.

• Label

  Shohei was one of numerous potters from the town of Seto who moved to Kyoto in the Meiji era to try their luck in the booming export market. His successful workshop specialized in porcelain with monochrome glazes.

  This box 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 1 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

  Kyoto, Japan

• Credit Line

  Bequest of Isabel S. Kurtz

• 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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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1890s

• Name

  Kurtz, Isabel S., Kurtz, Charles M.

• Place

  Kyoto, Japan

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Containers