Karatsu ware ewer or freshwater jar
date: label: Date
content: 1596-1615
label: Period
content: Momoyama period
notes: label: Description
content: Squat cylindrical pitcher with twisted rope handle and folded-over spout; lacquer cover. Karatsu ware. Style of Chosen garatsu.
label: Description
content: Clay: grayish stoneware, medium coarse, fired reddish brown where unglazed.
label: Description
content: Glaze: dark greenish brown flowing down over cream; iron-ash glaze and rice-straw ash glaze.
label: Description
content: Decoration: glaze pattern only.
label: Label
content: This vessel combines a body shaped by coiling, then finishing with paddle and anvil, with a hand-formed spout and handle. The technique was introduced to Japan by immigrant Korean potters and used for utilitarian vessel shapes. The two-color glaze combination, associated with a type of Karatsu ware known as "Korean Karatsu," is found on early Agano and Takatori wares as well.
label: Provenance
content: To 1898
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, to 1898 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1898 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1898 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 177, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. The majority of Charles Lang Freer’s purchases from Yamanaka & Company were made at its New York branch. Yamanaka & Company maintained branch offices, at various times, in Boston, Chicago, London, Peking, Shanghai, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. During the summer, the company also maintained seasonal locations in Newport, Bar Harbor, and Atlantic City.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [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.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Imperfectly Beautiful: Inventing Japanese Ceramic Style (October 14, 2017 - October 14, 2019)
label: Exhibition History
content: Cornucopia: Ceramics of Southern Japan (December 19, 2009 to January 9, 2011)
label: Exhibition History
content: Freer: A Taste for Japanese Art (July 1, 2006 to January 1, 2007)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Screens (May 9, 1993 to November 13, 1995)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art (November 7, 1986 to July 19, 1988)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Ceramics (June 22, 1982 to September 27, 1982)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Ceramics/Puppets (June 16, 1980 to July 14, 1980)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Ceramics (July 15, 1980 to June 21, 1982)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to January 17, 1980)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art (July 1, 1974 to April 10, 1978)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art: Paintings and Pottery (July 1, 1966 to May 2, 1973)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art (January 1, 1963 to July 1, 1966)
label: Exhibition History
content: Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 1 and 2 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Saga prefecture, Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: lacquer
label: Topic
content: ceramic
label: Topic
content: Karatsu ware
label: Topic
content: Momoyama period (1573 - 1615)
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: stoneware
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1898.457a-b
objectType: label: Type
content: Vessel
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Stoneware with iron and rice-straw ash glazes; lacquered wooden lid
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 17.2 x 24.6 x 14.2 cm (6 3/4 x 9 11/16 x 5 9/16 in)
label: Style
content: Karatsu ware, Chosen Karatsu type