Jar with four lugs

Tea-leaf storage jar. Large, ovoidal, with four loop handles. Lip chipped. Paulownia wood lid wrapped in Japanese document paper, used. Mouth cover of Japanese-made dark-blue silk with gold weft figures. Lavender and white braided silk cord. Wood stand.
Clay: hard, dense, gray.
Glaze: brilliant, dark, brownish-red, with splash of leaf green on shoulder.

ā€¦ Read More

Historical period(s)
Ming dynasty, 15th-16th century
Medium
Stoneware with iron and rice-straw-ash glazes
Style
Shiwan (Shekwan) ware
Dimensions
H x Diam: 39.5 Ɨ 35.2 cm (15 9/16 Ɨ 13 7/8 in)
Geography
China, Guangdong province, Foshan, Shiwan (Shekwan) kilns
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1899.47a-f
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tea-leaf storage jar (chatsubo)

Keywords
China, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Shiwan ware, stoneware, tea
Provenance

To 1899
Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1899 [1]

From 1899 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1899 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 20, 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)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Yamanaka and Co. (C.L. Freer source) 1917-1965

Description

Tea-leaf storage jar. Large, ovoidal, with four loop handles. Lip chipped. Paulownia wood lid wrapped in Japanese document paper, used. Mouth cover of Japanese-made dark-blue silk with gold weft figures. Lavender and white braided silk cord. Wood stand.
Clay: hard, dense, gray.
Glaze: brilliant, dark, brownish-red, with splash of leaf green on shoulder.

Label

An ink inscription in Japanese on the base of this jar gives its purchase price of more than fourteen pounds of silver. Beginning in the ninth century, China sent large numbers of storage jars to destinations along trading routes to Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. The jars were made at kilns in the coastal provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, or Guangdong, close to major port cities. Presumably most jars served as containers for commercial goods. Even after the Chinese jars were empty, they were highly valued. The uses to which they were put depended on the culture that received them. This jar reached Japan, where Chinese jars stored tea leaves used in the Japanese tea ceremony, chanoyu.

Published References
  • Japanese Visual Culture: Performance, Media and Text. Japan. .
  • Title unknown. no. 34, 2013. .
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
SI Usage Statement

Usage Conditions Apply

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery welcome information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

citation | Save this image How to download an image | Request Permission | Terms of Use