Serving dish in shape of overlapping fans, Mino ware, Oribe type

Buff clay. Four small loop feet. Underglaze iron painted decoration of geometric bands and scattered plum blossoms on inside, stripes and cartwheels-in-stream on outside. Clear glaze, white and crackled where thick, and copper-tinted green ash glaze, applied separately; base unglazed except at edges, where green glaze is wiped off.

Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1615-1630
Medium
Stoneware with iron decoration under feldspathic glaze, and copper-green glaze
Style
Mino ware, Oribe type
Dimensions
H x W x D: 14.3 x 28.2 x 28.2 cm (5 5/8 x 11 1/8 x 11 1/8 in)
Geography
Japan, Gifu prefecture
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1960.30
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Serving dish (tebachi)

Keywords
bamboo, copper-green glaze, Edo period (1615 - 1868), fan, Japan, Mino ware, Oribe type, Momoyama period (1573 - 1615), stoneware
Provenance

To 1960
Mathias Komor, New York. [1]

From 1960
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Mathias Komor, New York. [2]

Notes:

[1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Mathias Komor 1909-1984

Description

Buff clay. Four small loop feet. Underglaze iron painted decoration of geometric bands and scattered plum blossoms on inside, stripes and cartwheels-in-stream on outside. Clear glaze, white and crackled where thick, and copper-tinted green ash glaze, applied separately; base unglazed except at edges, where green glaze is wiped off.

Label

As the formal cuisine (kaiseki) evolved during the Momoyama period, specific sorts of dishes were designed for serving the successive courses. The most colorful of all Momoyama ceramics, Oribe wear, was especially favored for table use. This plate combines complex allusions to natural (the bamboo-shaped handle) and artificial (the silhouette of two overlapping fans) forms. The design is partially calculated (in the painted patterns) and partially spontaneous (in the flowing copper glaze).

Published References
  • Zaigai Nihon no Shiho [Japanese Art: Selections from Western Collections]. 10 vols., Tokyo, 1979 - 1980. vol. 9: pl. 30.
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 148.
  • Louise Allison Cort. Seto and Mino Ceramics. Washington and Honolulu, 1992. cat. 38, p. 111.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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