Incense box in the shape of a turtle

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to Hon'ami Koho (1601-1682)

• Description

  Unglazed Incense box.

  Clay: coarse, conglomerate, gray, with sparse touches of orange.

  Shigaraki type.

• Label

  A grandson of the versatile artist Hon'ami Koetsu, Kuchu maintained a residence near Koetsu at Takagamine. Like his grandfather, Kuchu occasionally made tea bowls in the Black Raku format. He is best known, however, for his ceramics made from clay mixed with coarse feldspar grains to approximate the appearance of Shigaraki ware, which had been popular for tea utensils since the sixteenth century. These pieces executed in the spirit of a historical ware constitute a respected type of copy.

• Provenance

  To 1898

  Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1898 [1]

  From 1898 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in 1898 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 299, 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.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Seasons: Tea (February 5 to August 7, 2011)

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

  Freer: A Taste for Japanese Art (July 1, 2006 to January 1, 2007)

  The Koetsu Tea Bowl (May 15, 1998 to June 23, 2005)

  Kyoto Ceramics (November 9, 1984 to April 25, 1985)

  Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons in Japanese Art (September 14, 1977 to April 8, 1978)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Bunkio Matsuki 松木文恭 (1867-1940) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Kyoto, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Container

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

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

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Matsuki, Bunkio

• Place

  Kyoto, Japan

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Stoneware, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Incense, Japanese Art, Turtles, Ceramics

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Containers