Incense box with design of cranes, unknown Raku ware workshop

Historical period(s)
Edo period or Meiji era, 19th century
Medium
Earthenware with Red Raku glaze
Style
Raku ware, unknown workshop
Dimensions
H x W: 4 x 8.5 cm (1 9/16 x 3 3/8 in)
Geography
Japan, Kyoto or Tokyo
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1904.319a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Container
Type

Incense box (kogo)

Keywords
crane, earthenware, Edo period (1615 - 1868), incense, Japan, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), Raku ware
Provenance

To 1903
Hirase Roko (1829-1908), Osaka, Japan, to 1903 [1]

From 1903 to 1904
Yamanaka & Company, acquired from Hirase Roko in 1903 [2]

From 1904 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1904 [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, as well as Curatorial Remark 6, Louise Cort, 1987, Curatorial Remark 9, Louise Cort, September 18, 2009, and Curatorial Remark 12, Louise Cort, March 31, 2011, in the object record.

[2] The Hirase collection was sold at auctions in 1903 and 1906. The 1903 sale, held on April 8, was managed in part by Yamanaka Kichirobei, and this fact presumably accounts for the fact that Freer acquired three former Hirase pieces from Yamanaka & Company (see F1904.317, F1904.319a-b, and F1904.326). These ceramic pieces had been offered in the New York sale, but were sold to Charles Lang Freer at a later date by Yamanaka (according to Curatorial Remark 6, Louise A. Cort, 1987, and Curatorial Remark 12, Louise Cort, March 31, 2011, in the object record).

[3] See note 2. See also, Original Pottery List, L. 1319, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[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)

Hirase Roko 1829-1908
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Yamanaka and Co. (C.L. Freer source) 1917-1965

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