Tea-ceremony water jar (mizusashi) with design of plum branches, Karatsu ware

Water-jar, ovoid. Black lacquer cover.
Clay: dense, gray-white.
Glaze: brilliant cream, finely crackled in dark brown.
Decoration: in black, under glaze.

Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1750-1850
Medium
Stoneware with iron pigment under transparent colorless glaze; lacquered wooden lid
Style
Karatsu ware, Kenjo Karatsu type
Dimensions
H x Diam: 15.4 × 18.2 cm (6 1/16 × 7 3/16 in)
Geography
Japan, Saga prefecture, Karatsu, Nakazato kiln
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1892.27a-c
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tea ceremony water jar (mizusashi)

Keywords
Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, Karatsu ware, Kenjo Karatsu type, stoneware, tea, water
Provenance

To 1892
Tozo Takayanagi, New York to 1892 [1]

From 1892 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Tozo Takayanagi in 1892 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Takayanagi Tozo (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Water-jar, ovoid. Black lacquer cover.
Clay: dense, gray-white.
Glaze: brilliant cream, finely crackled in dark brown.
Decoration: in black, under glaze.

Label

The motif of blossoming plum branches on this jar was executed by a painter trained in the style practiced by the Kano workshops of professional painters. Kilns sponsored by warrior domains to produce elite wares for use in obligatory gift exchanges favored the Kano-style designs. The iron pigment on pale clay evokes the Chinese-style ink painting on paper, a specialty of Kano artists.

Published References
  • Warren E. Cox. The Book of Pottery and Porcelain. 2 vols., New York. vol. 1: p. 244, pl. 77.
  • , no. 39 Lexington, Massachusetts, 2018. p. 138, fig. 8.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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