Incense box with Rinpa-style design of stag head, unknown Raku ware workshop

Historical period(s)
Edo period or Meiji era, 19th century
Medium
Earthenware with Red Raku glaze
Style
Raku ware, unknown workshop
Dimensions
H x Diam: 4.9 × 5.9 cm (1 15/16 × 2 5/16 in)
Geography
Japan, Kyoto prefecture, Kyoto
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1901.164a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Container
Type

Incense box (kogo)

Keywords
earthenware, Edo period (1615 - 1868), incense, Japan, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), Raku ware
Provenance

Prince Konoe Iehiro (1667-1736), Kyoto [1]

To 1901
Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1901 [2]

From 1901 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in 1901 [3]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

Notes:

[1] According to a note by Bunkio Matsuki, from Curatorial Remarks, Envelope File: "Formerly possessed by Prince Konaye Iyetero of Kioto, famous Art Connoisseur Okura Kan-Sui (1700-1730) certify on the box." According to Louise A. Cort in the Curatorial Remarks, 1987: "There is no one in the main line of the Edo-period Konoe house by that name, but Matsuki may have meant Konoe Iehiro (hiro can also be read as teru). Prince Iehiro (1667-1736), known as Yorakuin, rose through various government offices to hold the position of Kampaku, but he is perhaps best remembered for his connoisseurship in the tea ceremony and flower arranging (Genshoku Chado Daijiten, pg. 365). Matsuki's information presumably was based on the attribution of the calligraphy on the box lid to Iehiro by the connoisseur Okura Kansui."

[2] See Original Pottery List, L. 1069, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[3] See note 1.

[4] 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)

Konoe Iehiro 1667-1736
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Bunkio Matsuki (C.L. Freer source) 1867-1940

Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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