Object Details
Artist
Attributed to Kashu Mimpei (1796-1871)
Description
Tea-jar, bulbous pear-shaped. Ivory cover.
Clay: hard, dense, grayish.
Glaze: pale lavender-blue; broadly crackled.
Decoration: in brown, green and white reserve, under glaze.
Label
A bushy-tailed mythical beast, flaming clouds, and plants, framed by dotted borders, comprise the Chinese-style decoration on this jar. The motifs are derived from cobalt-decorated porcelain jars and bowls made at southern Chinese kilns in Fujian province in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that became popular chanoyu utensils in Japan. The Mimpei pottery, a small-scale workshop operated by the cultivated son of a village headman, produced interpretations of various Chinese and Japanese ceramic wares. On this tea caddy, iron rather than cobalt pigment was used to paint the motifs, while cobalt dissolved in the glaze veils the entire piece with a blue tone.
Provenance
To 1899
Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1899 [1]
From 1899 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in 1899 [2]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
Notes:
[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 718, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
[2] See note 1.
[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History
Seasons: Tea (February 5 to August 7, 2011)
Seasons: Arts of Japan (February 5, 2011 to January 13, 2013)
The Tea Ceremony in Japan XII (July 2, 2000 to February 4, 2001)
Selections from the Japanese Collection (March 22 to November 29, 1999)
Previous custodian or owner
Bunkio Matsuki 松木文恭 (1867-1940) (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Date
mid 19th century
Period
Edo period
Accession Number
F1899.90a-b
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Vessel
Medium
Stoneware with iron and cobalt pigments and white slip under colorless glaze; ivory lid
Dimensions
H x Diam: 7.8 × 8.1 cm (3 1/16 × 3 3/16 in)
Style
Mimpei ware
Origin
Awaji island, Hyogo prefecture, Japan
Related Online Resources
Google Arts & Culture
See more items in
National Museum of Asian Art
Data Source
National Museum of Asian Art
Topic
ceramic
ivory
Mimpei ware
Edo period (1615 - 1868)
tea
Japan
stoneware
Japanese Art
Charles Lang Freer collection
Link to Original Record
Record ID
fsg_F1899.90a-b