Small incense burner with slip-inlaid stamped decor

Dense, dark brown clay. String-cut base. Stamped motifs of flying cranes of two types, Chinese characters for “crane,” and “auspicious clouds,” inlaid with white slip brushed horizontally over body and partially removed. Clear glaze with soft sheen, applied by dipping, appearing gray over dark body, opaque white where thick in droplets. Inside unglazed. Silver lid with openwork cloud pattern.

Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1800-1850
Medium
Stoneware with white slip under clear glaze; silver lid
Style
Kyoto ware
Dimensions
H x W x D: 5.3 x 7.7 x 7.7 cm (2 1/16 x 3 1/16 x 3 1/16 in)
Geography
Japan, Kyoto
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1911.363a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Incense burner (koro 香炉)

Keywords
Edo period (1615 - 1868), incense, Japan, Ofuke ware, stoneware
Provenance

To 1911
Sato, Nagasaki, to 1911 [1]

From 1911 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Sato in 1911 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2150, 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)

Sato (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Dense, dark brown clay. String-cut base. Stamped motifs of flying cranes of two types, Chinese characters for "crane," and "auspicious clouds," inlaid with white slip brushed horizontally over body and partially removed. Clear glaze with soft sheen, applied by dipping, appearing gray over dark body, opaque white where thick in droplets. Inside unglazed. Silver lid with openwork cloud pattern.

Published References
  • Louise Allison Cort. Korean Influences in Japanese Ceramics. vol. 15, no. 5 Hong Kong, May 1984. p. 26.
  • Louise Allison Cort. Seto and Mino Ceramics. Washington and Honolulu, 1992. cat. 78, p. 159.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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