Container with frog at rim

Light gray clay, darkened on surface by use. Potter’s mark on base to right. Clear ash glaze under copper-green (rusu) glaze streaked with bluish white, forming thick welt just above base. Clear glaze on inside. Relief figure of tiny frog climbing over rim. With ivory lid.

Maker(s)
Artist: Kato Buemon (Shun'u) (d. 1827)
Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1770-1827
Medium
Stoneware with copper-green glaze
Style
Seto ware
Dimensions
H x Diam: 10.8 × 6.1 cm (4 1/4 × 2 3/8 in)
Geography
Japan, Aichi prefecture, Seto
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1898.446a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Container
Type

Container

Keywords
Edo period (1615 - 1868), frog, Japan, Seto ware, stoneware, tea
Provenance

To 1898
Japanese Trading Company, New York to 1898 [1]

From 1898 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Japanese Trading Company in 1898 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 739, 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)

Japanese Trading Company (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Light gray clay, darkened on surface by use. Potter's mark on base to right. Clear ash glaze under copper-green (rusu) glaze streaked with bluish white, forming thick welt just above base. Clear glaze on inside. Relief figure of tiny frog climbing over rim. With ivory lid.

Inscription(s)

Potter's mark, "Shun'u," without frame, impressed on base to right.

Published References
  • Louise Allison Cort. Seto and Mino Ceramics. Washington and Honolulu, 1992. cat. 65, p. 141.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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