Serving bowl with bail handle

Object Details

• Artist

  Nin'ami Dohachi 仁阿弥道八 (1783-1855)

• Description

  Following the Kenzan model in the Tekisui Museum, Ashiya, the bowl is designed--shape, imagery, texture, and color--in the metaphor of bamboo in snow. The bowl is made from dark red, iron-rich clay and stands on three carefully carved feet. The thick edge of the bowl is carved into an irregular contour, and the bowl is spanned by a thick, flattened handle sculpted in the form of bamboo. Iron pigment was used to darken the handle and to paint bamboo leaves on the inside and outside of the bowl. Thick white slip was then spattered onto all surfaces to create the appearance of thick, soft snow. (The slip must have been very thick, by intention, to land as relief clumps.) The irregularly carved edge further suggests the contours of snow heaped on the foliage. A translucent white glaze into which the vessel was dipped covers the design and appears cool bluish-white over the dark clay body.

  Impressed seal "Dohachi."

  The bowl is accompanied by its original wooden box, signed by Dohachi on the top of the lid with his own description of the piece as "handled serving bowl with painting of bamboo in snow."

  The bowl was wrapped in a padded yellow cotton wrapper and cotton batting in its original wooden box. The box is secured with a blue-and-white banded cotton cord with a central red stripe.

  The top of the box lid bears an ink inscription by Dohachi: to the upper right, "Settchiku no e / tebachi [handled bowl / design of snow and bamboo]; to the lower left "Dohachi." A handmade paper (washi) cover attached to the lid bears an ink inscription reading: "Settchiku no e no hachi."

  The lid is further protected by a loose paper cover with edges folding over the sides of the box. The top of this cover bears an ink inscription reading: "Sanjugo go [number 35]...(the next line, probably the former owner's name, is crossed out)...Dohachi settchiku tebachi." One side of the cover bears in ink inscription written from right to left: "Dohachi settchiku tebachi."

  A small paper label attached to one side of the box reads: "Ri ju-yon [ri 14, probably an inventory number]." A large paper label is inscribed: "Dohachi...jo tezuke hachi [superior bowl with attached handle]." The use of the term "superior" suggests some sort of inventory ranking pieces according to quality.

  This older box is wrapped in a white cotton wrapper and contained within a new wooden box secured with a beige cotton cord. The lid of the outer box bears an ink inscription: "Yuki [?; two characters indicating a plant name] tebachi / Nin'ami Dohachi saku [made by Nin'ami Dohachi]."

• Marks

  Dohachi (impressed seal)

• Inscriptions

  Wood storage box inscribed Settchiku no e tebachi (handled bowl decorated with bamboo in snow) and signed Dohachi.

• Provenance

  Private Japanese collection [1]

  To 1999

  Sebastian Izzard, New York, acquired from a private Japanese collector, to 1999 [2]

  From 1999

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Sebastian Izzard in 1999

  Notes:

  [1] According to Curatorial Note 10, Louise A. Cort, September 28, 1999, in the object record.

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Arts of Japan (July 14, 2012 to January 13, 2013)

  Seasons: Arts of Japan (February 5, 2011 to January 13, 2013)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Sebastian Izzard Asian Art LLC

• Origin

  Gojozaka, Kyoto, Kyoto prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• 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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  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1840s, 1690s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Sebastian Izzard Asian Art LLC

• Place

  Kyoto, Japan, Gojozaka, Kyoto prefecture

• Topic

  Art, Stoneware, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ceramics, Plants

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)