Serving dish with design of “Three Friends”

Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1615-1624
Medium
Stoneware with Oribe glaze and iron decoration under clear glaze; gold lacquer repairs
Style
Mino ware, Oribe type
Dimensions
H x W x D: 8.3 x 37 x 37 cm (3 1/4 x 14 9/16 x 14 9/16 in)
Geography
Japan, Gifu prefecture, Tajimi, Probably Kamagane kilns
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1973.6a-e
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Serving dish

Keywords
bamboo, Edo period (1615 - 1868), flower, Japan, lacquer repair, Mino ware, Oribe type, Momoyama period (1573 - 1615), stoneware, WWII-era provenance
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Label

The craftsman who decorated this dish began by ladling three scoops of copper-green glaze over the surface, creating somewhat randomly the area to be filled with painted decoration. The decoration combines naturalistic bamboo plants—including abundant bamboo shoots, a
delicacy of early spring in Japanese cuisine—and geometric patterns. Dishes of this large size were used to serve food at banquets.

Published References
  • Andrew Maske. Potters and Patrons in Edo Period Japan: Takatori Ware and the Kuroda Domain. Farnham, Surry, UK and Burlington, Vermont. fig. 4.7.
  • Zaigai Nihon no Shiho [Japanese Art: Selections from Western Collections]. 10 vols., Tokyo, 1979 - 1980. vol. 9: pl. 33.
  • , Kawahara Masahiko, Nakazato Tarouemon XII. Toji taikei [Complete Collection of Far Eastern Ceramics]. 48 vols., Tokyo, 1972-1978. vol. 12: pl. 79.
  • Sekai toji zenshu [Catalogue of the World's Ceramics]. 19 vols., Tokyo, 1976-1982. vol. 5: p. 301, pl. 246.
  • Fujioka Ryoichi. Shino and Oribe Ceramics. Japanese Arts Library, vol. 1, 1st edition. Tokyo, New York and San Francisco. pl. 103.
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 147.
  • Fujioka Ryoichi. Shino to Oribe. Shibundo, no. 51 Tokyo, August 15, 1970. pl. 19.
  • Nihon no toji. 14 vols., , Genshoku aizohan. Tokyo. vol. 4: pl. 174.
  • David Palmer. City and Countryside, History and the Potter's Art. no. 25. p. 15.
  • Louise Allison Cort. Seto and Mino Ceramics. Washington and Honolulu, 1992. cat. 36, p. 30.
  • Bonnie Kemske. The Teabowl: East and West. London, United Kingdom, October 3, 2017. p. 47, fig. 22.
  • Mino koto. Exh. cat. Japan. p. 70.
  • Julia Murray. A Decade of Discovery: Selected Acquisitions 1970-1980. Exh. cat. Washington, 1979. cat. 68, p. 89.
  • Matsu, take, ume. Kyoto. p. 174, pl. 54.
  • Penelope Mason, (Revised by) Donald Dinwiddie. History of Japanese Art., 2nd Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. p. 250, fig. 285.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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