Tea ceremony water jar with matching cover

Tea-ceremony water jar with matching cover (tomobuta mizusashi [JPN])
Clay: sonorous, gray-white; Raku type.
Glaze: mottled peach-red splashed with dark grayish-green, and thin gray. Red Raku glaze (red slip under clear lead glaze).
Mark: Raku, impressed on base.

Maker(s)
Artist: False seal of Raku Sonyu (1664-1716)
Historical period(s)
Edo period or Meiji era, 18th-19th century
Medium
Earthenware with Red Raku glaze (red slip under clear lead glaze)
Style
Raku ware, unknown workshop
Dimensions
H x Diam: 22.1 × 22.5 cm (8 11/16 × 8 7/8 in)
Geography
Japan, Kyoto prefecture, Kyoto
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1900.62a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tea ceremony water jar (tomobuta mizusashi)

Keywords
earthenware, Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, Kyoto ware, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), Raku ware, red slip, tea, water
Provenance

Ikeda Seisuke (1839-1900), Kyoto [1]

To 1900
Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1900 [2]

From 1900 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in 1900 [3]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

Notes:

[1] See Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record. See also, Curatorial Remark
5, H.E. Buckman, 1964, which states that the Envelope File contained the following note: "Formerly in Ikeda Collection."

[2] See Original Pottery List, L. 756, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[3] See note 2.

[4] 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)

Ikeda Seisuke 1839-1900
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Bunkio Matsuki (C.L. Freer source) 1867-1940

Description

Tea-ceremony water jar with matching cover (tomobuta mizusashi [JPN])
Clay: sonorous, gray-white; Raku type.
Glaze: mottled peach-red splashed with dark grayish-green, and thin gray. Red Raku glaze (red slip under clear lead glaze).
Mark: Raku, impressed on base.

Inscription(s)

Inscribed by Kakkakusai (1678-1730), sixth master of the Omote Senke tea school.

Label

This water jar is attributed by its box inscription to Raku Sonyu. Cousin of the renowned artists, Ogata Korin (1658-1716) and Ogata Korin (1663-1743), Sonyu was adopted into the Raku family while still an infant and became the fifth head of the workshop. This large, heavy jar reproduces the so-called potato shape (imogata) of certain unglazed jars brought from Southeast Asia in the 16th century and adopted for tea-ceremony use. This box is inscribed by Kakkakusai (1678-1730), sixth master of the Omote Senke tea school.

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