Sauce pot with design of spring grasses

Object Details

• Artist

  Kyoto workshop, Kenzan style

• Description

  Small squat sauce pot with flat lid, decor of ferns executed in cobalt and iron on white slip in "Kenzan" style. Fine-grained, buff-gray clay. Lid, base, and spout thrown and trimmed on the potter's wheel. Pieces luted together. White-slip patch applied to median and section of lid. Painting in underglaze iron and cobalt. Overall application of transparent stoneware glaze; base in reserve. High-temperature firing. Possibly Banko ware?

  "Kenzan" signature in underglaze iron on base.

• Signatures

  "Kenzan" signature in underglaze iron on base.

• Provenance

  To 1982

  John A. Pope (1906-1982), Washington, DC [1]

  From 1982 to 1986

  Mrs. John A. Pope, Washington, DC, ownership transferred to Mrs. Pope after the death of her husband, John A. Pope. [2]

  From 1986

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Mrs. John A. Pope, Washington DC [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Study Collection catalogue card, Collections Management Office. See also Curatorial Remark 3 in the object record.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Study Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. John Alexander Pope (1906-1982)

  Annemarie Henle Pope (1907-2001)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Mrs. John Alexander Pope

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1920s, 1970s

• Name

  Pope, John Alexander, Pope, Annemarie Henle

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Art, Showa era (1926 - 1989), Stoneware, Japanese Art, Ceramics, Grasses

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)