Tea bowl with design of a garden, Arita ware

Clay: grayish stoneware fired red.
Glaze: tan with dark grayish areas, crackled.
Decoration: flower sprays, rock and butterflies in underglaze blue.

Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1660-1700
Medium
Stoneware with white slip and cobalt pigment under clear glaze
Style
Arita ware, totai sometsuke type
Dimensions
H x Diam: 8 × 12.4 cm (3 1/8 × 4 7/8 in)
Geography
Japan, Saga prefecture, Arita
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1900.92
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tea bowl

Keywords
Arita ware, butterfly, Edo period (1615 - 1868), flower, garden, Japan, stoneware, tea
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] According to Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

[2] See Original Pottery List, L. 806, 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

Clay: grayish stoneware fired red.
Glaze: tan with dark grayish areas, crackled.
Decoration: flower sprays, rock and butterflies in underglaze blue.

Label

The Arita kilns are best known for producing white-bodied porcelain decorated with cobalt in the Chinese style. This unusual tea bowl combines cobalt designs with a dark stoneware body. Applying white clay solution over the dark body produced a muted “antique” appearance further emphasized by the crackle in the glaze. This type of ware appears to have been produced at Arita kilns during a brief period and for an audience of tea ceramic connoisseurs.

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