Vase

Jar with wide mouth, slightly averted thin lip and fairly thick rim. Globular body curves under to rest on flat foot trimmed to form footring.

Clay: Porcelain, footrim darkened on surface by use. Unglazed portion at base turned light brown upon exposure to fire in kiln.

Glaze: Exterior lip brushed with pink (copper) pigment. Pink pigment appears dusted on to shoulders and body. Some grey and copper-red splotches on body. Colorless glaze applied to interior, exterior and foot. Glaze has left some areas unglazed where it crawled during firing and there is a visible thumbprint on the neck. Unglazed footrim.

Decoration: The contrasting pink and white pigments provide the simple decoration for this piece.

Signatures/Inscriptions: Paper label:”CMK 22″

Historical period(s)
Meiji era, ca. 1893-1899
Medium
Porcelain with copper-pink glaze
Dimensions
H x W x D: 10.2 x 10.8 x 10.8 cm (4 x 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
Bequest of Isabel S. Kurtz
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1991.38
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Vase

Keywords
Japan, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), porcelain
Provenance

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.

[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)

Charles M. Kurtz 1855-1909
Isabel S. Kurtz 1901-1991

Description

Jar with wide mouth, slightly averted thin lip and fairly thick rim. Globular body curves under to rest on flat foot trimmed to form footring.

Clay: Porcelain, footrim darkened on surface by use. Unglazed portion at base turned light brown upon exposure to fire in kiln.

Glaze: Exterior lip brushed with pink (copper) pigment. Pink pigment appears dusted on to shoulders and body. Some grey and copper-red splotches on body. Colorless glaze applied to interior, exterior and foot. Glaze has left some areas unglazed where it crawled during firing and there is a visible thumbprint on the neck. Unglazed footrim.

Decoration: The contrasting pink and white pigments provide the simple decoration for this piece.

Signatures/Inscriptions: Paper label:"CMK 22"

Marking(s)

Paper label:"CMK 22"

Label

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
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