Kyoto ware cylindrical tea bowl in style of Koetsu

Cylindrical tea bowl in style of Koetsu. Gold lacquer repair to firing crack.
Clay: resonant, soft, red, Raku type.
Glaze: thick, irregular white glaze.
Decoration: family of cranes, in white slip and black pigment, under glaze.

Maker(s)
Artist: Attributed to Eiraku Zengoro workshop
Historical period(s)
Edo period or Meiji era, 19th century
Medium
Stoneware with white slip and black pigment under feldspathic glaze
Style
Kyoto ware
Dimensions
H x Diam: 9.8 × 10.7 cm (3 7/8 × 4 3/16 in)
Geography
Japan, Kyoto prefecture, Kyoto
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1901.151
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tea bowl

Keywords
crane, Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, Kyoto ware, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), stoneware, tea
Provenance

To 1901
Yamanaka & Company, to 1901 [1]

From 1901 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1901 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Pottery List, L. 1051, 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

Cylindrical tea bowl in style of Koetsu. Gold lacquer repair to firing crack.
Clay: resonant, soft, red, Raku type.
Glaze: thick, irregular white glaze.
Decoration: family of cranes, in white slip and black pigment, under glaze.

Label

Information provided by the Japanese dealer from whom Charles Freer acquired this bowl attributed it to the Eiraku Zengoro workshop. The name Zengoro was used by successive heads of the workshop in the nineteenth century.  They are better known by the names they took after retirement--Eiraku Hozen (head of the workshop from 1827 to 1843), Eiraku Wazen (head of the workshop from 1843 to 1871) and Eiraku Tokuzen (head of the workshop after 1871). Although the dealer's record gave the date of the bowl as 1830, the style of this cylindrical bowl suggests that it may well be the work of Tokuzen.

Published References
  • Stephen Weintraub, Kanya Tsujimoto, Sadae Y. Walters. Urushi and Conservation: The Use of Japanese Lacquer in the Restoration of Japanese Art. vol. 11 Washington and Ann Arbor. pp. 54-55, fig. 18.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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