Six-sided ember pot with design of blossoming plum

Hexagonal container for live coals (hi-ire). Bottom cracked.
Clay: Dense, grayish stoneware.
Glaze: White slip under clear glaze.
Decoration: In iron pigment under glaze. Flowering prunus.

Maker(s)
Artist: Style of Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743) Style of Ogata Kōrin 尾形光琳 (1658-1716) Kyoto workshop, Kenzan style
Historical period(s)
Edo period, 19th century
Medium
Stoneware with white slip and iron pigment under clear glaze
Dimensions
H x W: 10.1 x 12.1 cm (4 x 4 3/4 in)
Geography
Japan, Kyoto prefecture, Kyoto
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1902.232
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Ember pot (hiire)

Keywords
Edo period (1615 - 1868), flower, Japan, plum blossom
Provenance

To 1902
Bunshichi Kobayashi (circa 1861-1923), Boston, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Yokohama, to 1902 [1]

From 1902 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunshichi Kobayashi in 1902 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 1199, 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
Kobayashi Bunshichi (C.L. Freer source) ca. 1861-1923

Description

Hexagonal container for live coals (hi-ire). Bottom cracked.
Clay: Dense, grayish stoneware.
Glaze: White slip under clear glaze.
Decoration: In iron pigment under glaze. Flowering prunus.

Published References
  • Richard L. Wilson. The Art of Ogata Kenzan: Persona and Production in Japanese Ceramics., 1st ed. New York and Tokyo. fig. 373.
  • Zaigai Nihon no Shiho [Japanese Art: Selections from Western Collections]. 10 vols., Tokyo, 1979 - 1980. vol. 9: pls. 81, 82.
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 202.
  • Warren E. Cox. The Book of Pottery and Porcelain. 2 vols., New York. vol. 1: p. 236, fig. 429.
  • Richard L. Wilson. The Potter's Brush: The Kenzan Style in Japanese Ceramics. Exh. cat. Washington. cat. 52, p. 131.
  • Hugo Munsterberg. The Ceramic Art of Japan: A Handbook for Collectors., 1st ed. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo. p. 207, pl. 140.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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