Vase

Maker(s)
Artist: Kitamura Junko (Japan, born 1956)
Historical period(s)
Heisei era, 1993
Medium
Black stoneware with white slip inlay
Dimensions
H x Diam: 54.6 x 16.3 cm (21 1/2 x 6 7/16 in)
Geography
Japan, Kyoto prefecture, Kyoto
Credit Line
Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Accession Number
S1994.3
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Vase

Keywords
Heisei era (1989 - present), Japan, stoneware
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Label

Kitamura's patterning of her ceramic forms is reminiscent of certain contemporary textiles or prints in its crisp execution and sleek fit on the form.  Nevertheless, she does use a technique—inlay of white slip into the impressed depressions—that refers to the slip-inlay technique used prominently on Choson-period Korean and Edo-period Japanese ceramics, and she states that the images for her pieces arise from the patterns on Jomon earthenware.  In this reworking of tradition, she is representative of Kyoto ceramic artists who have been masters of reinterpretation since the seventeenth century.

Published References
  • Louise Allison Cort. Twentieth-century Asian Crafts in the Sackler Gallery. vol. XLIII no. 3. p. 23, fig. 15.
  • Alice North, Halsey North, Louise Allison Cort. Listening to Clay: Conversations with Contemporary Japanese Ceramic Artists. New York, New York, June 14, 2022. p. 264, fig. 15.7.
Collection Area(s)
Contemporary Art, Japanese Art
Web Resources
Whistler's Neighborhood
Google Cultural Institute
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