Vase

Modified “arrow-vase” (peach-shaped) with large, averted rim, thick lip and long cylindrical neck tapering into globular body. Body rests on visible footring formed when foot trimmed.

Clay: Porcelain, footrim slightly darkened on surface by use.

Glaze: Underglaze brown pigment applied to interior and exterior of vase. Over brown glaze, purple, glaze poured onto neck and allowed to run arbitrarily down sides of body. Glaze fans out over body and pools at base above footring. The purple glaze is has an opalescent, glassy sheen produced during firing. Between the areas of purple glaze, the brown glaze has pitted “orange peel” texture, the result of minute bubbles in the glaze which burst at high temperatures during firing. Colorless glaze applied to foot. Unglazed footrim.

Decoration: The variation of the brown and purple opalescent glazes provides the decoration for this vase.

Signatures/Inscriptions: Paper label: “Z6353 $12” (This piece retains its original sticker price on its foot.)

Historical period(s)
Meiji era, ca. 1892
Medium
Porcelain with iron glazes
Dimensions
H x W x D: 10.8 x 7.6 x 7.6 cm (4 1/4 x 3 x 3 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
Bequest of Isabel S. Kurtz
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1991.42
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

Modified "arrow-vase" (peach-shaped) with large, averted rim, thick lip and long cylindrical neck tapering into globular body. Body rests on visible footring formed when foot trimmed.

Clay: Porcelain, footrim slightly darkened on surface by use.

Glaze: Underglaze brown pigment applied to interior and exterior of vase. Over brown glaze, purple, glaze poured onto neck and allowed to run arbitrarily down sides of body. Glaze fans out over body and pools at base above footring. The purple glaze is has an opalescent, glassy sheen produced during firing. Between the areas of purple glaze, the brown glaze has pitted "orange peel" texture, the result of minute bubbles in the glaze which burst at high temperatures during firing. Colorless glaze applied to foot. Unglazed footrim.

Decoration: The variation of the brown and purple opalescent glazes provides the decoration for this vase.

Signatures/Inscriptions: Paper label: "Z6353 $12" (This piece retains its original sticker price on its foot.)

Marking(s)

Paper label: "Z6353 $12" (This piece retains its original sticker price on its foot.)

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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