Jar

This bottle was formed in a mold as a rectangular vessel with strongly defined neck and foot. It is glazed with pale, cobalt-tinted blue-gray glaze except at the neck and foot, which are finished with brown iron glaze. On both wide sides a similar circular floral motif (probably an orchid) is painted freely with darker blue cobalt, iron, and copper (oxidized to red).

Maker(s)
Artist: Kawai Kanjiro 河井寛次郎 (1890-1966)
Historical period(s)
Showa era, circa 1938-1943
Medium
Stoneware with cobalt, copper, and iron pigments; blue and brown glazes
Dimensions
H x W x D: 22.1 x 15.1 x 10.4 cm (8 11/16 x 5 15/16 x 4 1/8 in)
Geography
Japan, Kyoto
Credit Line
Gift of Aileen Aderton
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Accession Number
S1994.17
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Jar

Keywords
flower, Japan, Showa era (1926 - 1989), stoneware, WWII-era provenance
Provenance

From 1948-1949 to 1994
Aileen Aderton, Mitchellville, Maryland, purchased from an unknown dealer in Kyoto in 1948-1949 [1]

From 1994
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, given by Aileen Aderton in 1994

Notes:

[1] Mrs. Aderton reported in a telephone conversation (August 16, 1994) that she purchased the jar from a dealer's shop in Kyoto when she was living there from February 1948 to August 1949 as an education officer with the American Occupation. Subsequently she showed the jar to Kawai Kanjiro, who confirmed that it was his (according to Provenance Remark 1, L.A. Cort, December 6, 1994, in the object record).

Previous Owner(s)

Aileen Aderton 1904-2005

Description

This bottle was formed in a mold as a rectangular vessel with strongly defined neck and foot. It is glazed with pale, cobalt-tinted blue-gray glaze except at the neck and foot, which are finished with brown iron glaze. On both wide sides a similar circular floral motif (probably an orchid) is painted freely with darker blue cobalt, iron, and copper (oxidized to red).

Published References
  • Louise Allison Cort. Twentieth-century Asian Crafts in the Sackler Gallery. vol. XLIII no. 3. p. 21, fig. 8.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Whistler's Neighborhood
Google Cultural Institute
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