Sake bottle

Bottle (tokkuri 徳利), octagonal, ovoidal.
Clay: hard, white.
Glaze: luminous cream-white; variable brown crackle.
Decoration: in grayish tones, under glaze.

Maker(s)
Artist: Decoration attributed to Kano Tangen (1679-1767)
Historical period(s)
Edo period, 18th century
Medium
Stoneware with cobalt pigment under clear glaze
Style
Satsuma ware, White Satsuma type
Dimensions
H x Diam: 21.8 x 17.8 cm (8 9/16 x 7 in)
Geography
Japan, Kagoshima prefecture, Kagoshima, Hiyamizu kiln
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1892.26
On View Location
Freer Gallery 12: The Peacock Room Comes to America
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Bottle (tokkuri)

Keywords
Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, Satsuma ware, White Satsuma type, stoneware
Provenance

To 1892
Tozo Takayanagi, New York to 1892 [1]

From 1892 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Tozo Takayanagi in 1892 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 93, 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) and Custodian(s)

Takayanagi Tozo (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Bottle (tokkuri 徳利), octagonal, ovoidal.
Clay: hard, white.
Glaze: luminous cream-white; variable brown crackle.
Decoration: in grayish tones, under glaze.

Label

The decoration on this bottle is attributed to the artist Kano Tangen, who served as the official painter for the Satsuma domain, where the bottle was made.

Published References
  • Josephine H. Knapp, Dr. John Alexander Pope, Dr. Esin Atil. The Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Oriental Ceramics: the world's great collections, vol. 10 Tokyo. pl. 186.
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10.
  • Matsumura Makiko. Furea gyarari no Satsumayaki [Satsuma ware in the Freer Gallery]. no. 19, April 9, 2005. pp. 3-8.
  • David Park Curry. James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art. Washington and New York, 1984. p. 18, fig. 19.
  • Thomas Lawton, Linda Merrill. Freer: a legacy of art. Washington and New York, 1993. p. 61, fig. 42.
  • , no. 39 Lexington, Massachusetts, 2018. p. 135, p. 138, fig. 3 and 8.
  • David Park Curry. Charles Lang Freer and American Art. vol. 118, no. 258, special issue., August 1983. pp. 168-179, fig. 6.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
The Story of the Beautiful
Google Cultural Institute
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