Suzu ware storage jar

Detail of a pattern
Image 1 of 2
IIIF

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At A Glance

  • Period

    early 14th century
  • Geography

    Suzu kilns, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan
  • Material

    Unglazed gray stoneware
  • Dimension

    H x Diam (overall): 49 x 40.4 cm (19 5/16 x 15 7/8 in)
  • Accession Number

    F1998.79
  • EDAN ID

    edanmdm:fsg_F1998.79

Object Details

  • Description

    Storage jar with small mouth (tsubo), formed by coiling-and-throwing, finished by paddle and anvil, in several stages, using paddle carved with parallel grooves, creating striated surface on body from neck to near base. Smooth upright, short neck with rim rolled outward. Overall vessel form off balance, with mouth not aligned directly over narrow base.
    Clay: Stoneware, containing numerous small stones, gray on surface as result of firing in heavy reduction.
    Glaze: none. Light dusting of wood-ash "natural glaze" over shoulder, now dissolved, left whitish specks where clay was protected from reduction.
    Decoration: none.
    Mark: short vertical line incised on shoulder just below neck, usually interpreted as "potter's mark."
  • Marks

    Short vertical line incised on shoulder just below neck, usually interpreted as "potter's mark."
  • Provenance

    Unidentified owner, Japan [1]
    To 1998
    Eric J. Zetterquist, New York, acquired from an unidentified owner in Japan, to 1998 [2]
    From 1998
    Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Eric J. Zetterquist in 1998
    Notes:
    [1] According to Curatorial Note 4, Louise A. Cort, May 7, 1998, in the object record.
    [2] See note 1.
  • Collection

    Freer Gallery of Art Collection
  • Exhibition History

    Storage Jars of Asia (October 29, 2000 to March 10, 2002)
    Beyond the Legacy--Anniversary Acquisitions of the Freer Gallery of Art (October 11, 1998 to April 11, 1999)
  • Previous custodian or owner

    Eric J. Zetterquist
  • Origin

    Suzu kilns, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan
  • Credit Line

    Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
  • Type

    Vessel
  • Restrictions and Rights

    Usage Conditions Apply

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