Tea ceremony water jar, Takatori ware

Keywords: brown and black glaze, Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, stoneware, Takatori ware, tea, water

Provenance

To 1900
Yamanaka & Company, New York, NY, to 1900 [1]

From 1900 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1900 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 840, 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): Yamanaka and Co. (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Label: The potter who made this jar pressed a wheel-thrown cylinder into a diamond shape and wiped away portions of the glaze to reduce its glossiness. The jar's serene shape and amber-toned glaze are typical of tea ceramics made at the Shirahatayama kiln. Its wares are thought to reflect the taste and guidance of the tea master Kobori Enshu (1579-1647), whose preference for classic forms and quiet glazes had a far-reaching impact on Japanese ceramics in the 1630s and 1640s.

Published References

Andrew Maske. Potters and Patrons in Edo Period Japan: Takatori Ware and the Kuroda Domain. Farnham, Surry, UK and Burlington, VT. pl. 13.

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