Kyoto ware individual serving bowl in shape of sedge hat, with mark "Kiyomizu"
date: label: Date
content: late 17th century
label: Period
content: Edo period
notes: label: Description
content: Individual serving bowl (mukozuke [Jpn]) in shape of woven hat (amigasa [Jpn]). Elongated ovoidal; low circular foot. Gold lacquer repairs.
label: Description
content: Clay: hard, grayish at core; pinkish-fawn under glaze.
label: Description
content: Glaze: transparent.
label: Description
content: Decoration: in iron, under glaze.
label: Description
content: Mark: Kiyomizu [Jpn].
label: Marks
content: Kiyomizu [Jpn]
label: Label
content: This ceramic bowl takes the form of a common and inexpensive hat made of the marsh grass sedge. Cobalt lines suggest the hat's coarse woven texture. Such hats not only protected wearers from the sun but also disguised those who did not wish to be recognized, especially men on their way to the pleasure quarters. (Shops at the entrance to Kyoto's entertainment district sold hats specifically for that purpose.) In sophisticated Kyoto, a bowl of this shape would have lent an amusing note to a meal served in a tea house. Alternatively, if the bowl were used for a summer meal, the associations of shape and material might have been merely seasonal. Sets of bowls in this shape were enduringly popular in the repertory of Kyoto ceramics.
label: Provenance
content: To 1897
label: Provenance
content: Rufus E. Moore, New York to 1897 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1897 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Rufus E. Moore in 1897 [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. 388, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
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: Japanese Art from the Collection (October 26, 2024 - ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: The Potter's Mark: Tea Ceramics and Their Makers (August 18, 2007 to February 24, 2008)
label: Exhibition History
content: Games, Contests and Artful Play in Japan (March 19 to October 23, 2005)
label: Exhibition History
content: Dinner for Five: Japanese Serving Dishes for Elegant Meals (March 4 to October 21, 2001)
label: Exhibition History
content: Kyoto Ceramics (November 9, 1984 to April 25, 1985)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Rufus E. Moore (1840-1918) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Kiyomizu kilns, Kyoto, Kyoto prefecture, Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: lacquer
label: Topic
content: ceramic
label: Topic
content: Kyoto ware
label: Topic
content: Old Kiyomizu ware
label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: stoneware
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: lacquer repair
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: On View
content: West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), Gallery 07: Japanese Art from the Collection
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: F1897.15
objectType: label: Type
content: Vessel
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Stoneware with iron pigment under translucent white glaze; gold lacquer repairs
label: Dimensions
content: H x Diam: 4.7 × 14.3 cm (1 7/8 × 5 5/8 in)
label: Style
content: Kyoto ware