Vase with blossoming prunus and cracked ice pattern
Classic “arrow-shaped” (peach-shaped) vase with tall, cylindrical neck and bulbous-shaped body on flat foot decorated with blossoming prunus and cracked-ice pattern in cobalt glaze. Foot trimmed to form slight footring.
Clay: Porcelain, footrim slightly darkened on surface by use.
Glaze: Blue (cobalt) pigment applied to exterior under colorless glaze to outline prunus design and provide background wash. Colorless glaze applied to interior. Unglazed foot and footrim.
Decoration: Blossoming prunus and cracked-ice ground in imitation of Chinese wares. The prunus design was drawn onto the bottle first and then a blue background wash was added. The blue was then divided by lines to suggest the cracked ice of Spring. A thin white band runs around the exterior of the vase at its base to suggest a raised foot.
Signatures/Inscriptions: None
- Provenance
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To ?
Charles M. Kurtz (1855-1909). [1]To 1991
Isabel S. Kurtz (1901-1991). [2]From 1991
Freer Gallery of Art, bequest of Isabel S. Kurtz (1901-1991). [3]Notes:
[1] Ms. Isabel Kurtz bequeathed the group of Asian ceramics, F1991.19-.44, to the Freer Gallery of Art. These objects had been collected by her father, Charles M. Kurtz, who was a friend of Charles Freer. Also see Curatorial Remark 2 in the object record.
[2] See note 1. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 file, Collections Management Office.
[3] See note 2.
- Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)
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Charles M. Kurtz 1855-1909
Isabel S. Kurtz 1901-1991
- Description
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Classic "arrow-shaped" (peach-shaped) vase with tall, cylindrical neck and bulbous-shaped body on flat foot decorated with blossoming prunus and cracked-ice pattern in cobalt glaze. Foot trimmed to form slight footring.
Clay: Porcelain, footrim slightly darkened on surface by use.
Glaze: Blue (cobalt) pigment applied to exterior under colorless glaze to outline prunus design and provide background wash. Colorless glaze applied to interior. Unglazed foot and footrim.
Decoration: Blossoming prunus and cracked-ice ground in imitation of Chinese wares. The prunus design was drawn onto the bottle first and then a blue background wash was added. The blue was then divided by lines to suggest the cracked ice of Spring. A thin white band runs around the exterior of the vase at its base to suggest a raised foot.
Signatures/Inscriptions: None
- Label
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This vase was part of a collection formed by Charles M. Kurtz (1855-1909), during the period when he served as assistant art director for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and art director for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Centennial International Exposition in St. Louis. Kurtz's collecting focused on porcelain with highly colored glazed. Along with these pieces by prominent Japanese potters, Kurtz acquired vases of similar shapes and colors from American and European factories. Kurtz's collection, representative of a broad popular interest in Japanese art in the late nineteenth century, also reflects the growing internationalism in the decoration of ceramics resulting from rapid exchange of information and technology facilitated by the international fairs.
- Collection Area(s)
- Japanese Art
- Web Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- SI Usage Statement
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CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
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Usage Conditions Apply
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
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International Image Interoperability Framework
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