Bottle

Bottle: small, irregular, ellipsoidal; spiral corrugated ridges.
Clay: hard, gray. Stoneware, brown on surface.
Glaze: thin reddish wash with olive drops; partly disintegrated.

Historical period(s)
Ming or Qing dynasty, 16th-mid 17th century
Medium
Stoneware with splashes of melted wood ash
Dimensions
H x W: 19.9 x 10.1 cm (7 13/16 x 4 in)
Geography
China, Zhejiang, Anhui, or Jiangsu province
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1917.211
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Bottle

Keywords
China, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), stoneware
Provenance

To 1917
John Fenning, New York, to 1917 [1]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from John Fenning in 1917 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2517, 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)

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

Description

Bottle: small, irregular, ellipsoidal; spiral corrugated ridges.
Clay: hard, gray. Stoneware, brown on surface.
Glaze: thin reddish wash with olive drops; partly disintegrated.

Label

In Japan unglazed stoneware containers such as this one were known as Namban (southern barbarian) ware. Used for transporting some sort of liquid, bottles of this shape were widely dispersed in East and Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. They were of an appropriate size to serve as hanging vases in the tearoom, suspended from a hook in the display alcove wall or adjacent wooden pillar. They were known as chimaki vases because of their resemblance to a conical sweet made for the Fifth Day, Fifth Month festival.

Published References
  • Louise Allison Cort, George Williams, David P. Rehfuss. Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia. Washington. .
  • John Stevenson, John Guy, Louise Allison Cort. Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition. Chicago. p. 69, fig. 3.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia
Google Cultural Institute
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