Seto ware tea bowl

Fine-grained, buff clay, stained brown in bottom and lower sides. Ash glaze with large irregular crackle, appearing pale yellow-green where thin, olive-green were thicker or pooled in bottom. Foot completely glazed, with irregularly shaped circular scar from clay firing ring. Lacquer repairs on trim.

Historical period(s)
Muromachi period, 1490-1530
Medium
Stoneware with ash glaze
Style
Seto ware
Dimensions
H x Diam: 5.8 × 15.5 cm (2 5/16 × 6 1/8 in)
Geography
Japan, Aichi prefecture
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1904.327
On View Location
Freer Gallery 12: The Peacock Room Comes to America
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tea bowl (hirajawan)

Keywords
Japan, Muromachi period (1333 - 1573), Seto ware, stoneware, tea
Provenance

To 1904
Yamanaka & Company, 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. 1327, 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

Fine-grained, buff clay, stained brown in bottom and lower sides. Ash glaze with large irregular crackle, appearing pale yellow-green where thin, olive-green were thicker or pooled in bottom. Foot completely glazed, with irregularly shaped circular scar from clay firing ring. Lacquer repairs on trim.

Published References
  • Louise Allison Cort. Seto and Mino Ceramics. Washington and Honolulu, 1992. cat. 9, p. 76.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
The Story of the Beautiful
Google Cultural Institute
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