Karatsu ware vase with landscape and false Ming period mark

Vase; ovoid body, tapering, truncated neck. Gold lacquer handles, lip, and repairs.
Clay: hard, dense, grayish.
Glaze: brilliant light fawn, with close brown crackle; splashes of purplish-lilac.
Decoration: in cobalt, under glaze. Landscape and inscription on one side, simpler landscape on other side.

Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1670-1710
Medium
Stoneware with cobalt decoration under clear glaze; gold lacquer repairs
Style
Karatsu ware, Kyoyaki type
Dimensions
H x Diam: 23.1 × 21 cm (9 1/8 × 8 1/4 in)
Geography
Japan, Saga prefecture
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1904.148
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Vase

Keywords
Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, Karatsu ware, Kyoyaki type, lacquer repair, landscape, stoneware
Provenance

To 1904
Yamanaka & Company, London, to 1904 [1]

From 1904 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1904 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 1301, 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
Yamanaka and Co. (C.L. Freer source) 1917-1965

Description

Vase; ovoid body, tapering, truncated neck. Gold lacquer handles, lip, and repairs.
Clay: hard, dense, grayish.
Glaze: brilliant light fawn, with close brown crackle; splashes of purplish-lilac.
Decoration: in cobalt, under glaze. Landscape and inscription on one side, simpler landscape on other side.

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. p. 56, figs. 22-23.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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