Arita ware drug pot (albarello) with European decoration

Wheel-thrown cylindrical vessel with wide mouth, curved shoulder, and somewhat tapering base raised on a small, everted foot. Porcelain, with minute black inclusions. Painted in cobalt under the glaze, a horned satyr’s head among floral scrolls, swags, and a shell set in an elaborate surround for a scroll used to inscribe the name of the contents.

Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1650-1750
Medium
Porcelain with cobalt pigment under transparent, faintly blue glaze
Style
Arita ware
Dimensions
H x Diam (overall): 27.8 x 19.3 cm (10 15/16 x 7 5/8 in)
Geography
Japan, Saga prefecture, Arita
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F2003.3a-d
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Jar

Keywords
Arita ware, Edo period (1615 - 1868), flower, Japan, porcelain
Provenance

1993
Unknown Japanese dealer, purchased at auction, Christie's, London, November 15, 1993, lot no. 364 [1]

Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo [2]

To 2003
Anthony Carter, London, to 2003

From 2003
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Anthony Carter in 2003

Notes:

[1] According to Curatorial Note 1, Louise Cort, September 22, 2003, in the object record.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Anthony Carter
Idemitsu Museum of Arts

Description

Wheel-thrown cylindrical vessel with wide mouth, curved shoulder, and somewhat tapering base raised on a small, everted foot. Porcelain, with minute black inclusions. Painted in cobalt under the glaze, a horned satyr's head among floral scrolls, swags, and a shell set in an elaborate surround for a scroll used to inscribe the name of the contents.

Published References
  • Auction, 15 November 1993. London, November 15, 1993. lot 364.
  • Louise Allison Cort. Japanese and Korean Ceramics. vol. 36, no. 1 Hong Kong, January-February 2006. p. 103, fig. 4.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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