Jar, possibly Seto ware

Kuan-shape jar. Old repair on rim.
Clay: hard, dense, gray-white.
Glaze: mottled reddish-orange with flowing splash of gray-green, yellow-gray, light blue and violet; crackled. Inside: thin, dark bream. Four long fissures. Base unglazed.

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Historical period(s)
Edo period, late 18th-19th century
Medium
Stoneware with feldspathic and rice-straw-ash glazes
Style
Possibly Seto ware
Dimensions
H x Diam: 18 Ɨ 19.1 cm (7 1/16 Ɨ 7 1/2 in)
Geography
Japan, Aichi prefecture, Seto kilns
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1897.44
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Jar

Keywords
Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, rice-straw-ash glaze, Seto ware, stoneware
Provenance

To 1897
Rufus E. Moore, New York to 1897 [1]

From 1897 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Rufus E. Moore in 1897 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 124, 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)

Rufus E. Moore (C.L. Freer source) 1840-1918
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Kuan-shape jar. Old repair on rim.
Clay: hard, dense, gray-white.
Glaze: mottled reddish-orange with flowing splash of gray-green, yellow-gray, light blue and violet; crackled. Inside: thin, dark bream. Four long fissures. Base unglazed.

Marking(s)

Inside mark: Einen [CHN], incised on base.

Insofar as it can be determined, the mark is not a potter's insignia -- especially since it is incised rather than stamped -- but rather an inscribing meaning "for the ages", possibly indicating that the jar was made for some religious use, perhaps as a burial urn.

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