Tea ceremony water jar, Asahi ware

Tea ceremony water jar (mizusashi [Jpn])
Clay: hard, sonorous, gray: light brown where exposed. Thin and clear, appearing.
Glaze: gray, warm-buff and brown, splashed with white, bluish-gray and faint mauve. Irregular drips of translucent white glaze on shoulder.
Mark: Asahi, without frame, impressed on base to left.

Historical period(s)
Edo period, mid 17th-mid 18th century
Medium
Stoneware with mixed-ash glaze
Style
Asahi ware
Dimensions
H x Diam: 18.7 × 19.3 cm (7 3/8 × 7 5/8 in)
Geography
Japan, Kyoto prefecture, Uji
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1899.75a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tea ceremony water jar (mizusashi)

Keywords
Asahi ware, Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, stoneware, tea, water
Provenance

To 1899
Yamanaka & Company, 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. 116, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. The majority of Charles Lang Freer’s purchases from Yamanaka & Company were made at its New York branch. Yamanaka & Company maintained branch offices, at various times, in Boston, Chicago, London, Peking, Shanghai, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. During the summer, the company also maintained seasonal locations in Newport, Bar Harbor, and Atlantic City.

[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 ceremony water jar (mizusashi [Jpn])
Clay: hard, sonorous, gray: light brown where exposed. Thin and clear, appearing.
Glaze: gray, warm-buff and brown, splashed with white, bluish-gray and faint mauve. Irregular drips of translucent white glaze on shoulder.
Mark: Asahi, without frame, impressed on base to left.

Marking(s)

Asahi, without frame, impressed on base to left

Published References
  • Untitled Article. vol. 11, Autumn 1987. p. 7.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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