Incense box in the shape of a turtle
date: label: Date
content: mid 17th century
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Attributed to Hon'ami Koho (1601-1682)
notes: label: Description
content: Unglazed Incense box.
label: Description
content: Clay: coarse, conglomerate, gray, with sparse touches of orange.
label: Description
content: Shigaraki type.
label: Label
content: A grandson of the versatile artist Hon'ami Koetsu, Kuchu maintained a residence near Koetsu at Takagamine. Like his grandfather, Kuchu occasionally made tea bowls in the Black Raku format. He is best known, however, for his ceramics made from clay mixed with coarse feldspar grains to approximate the appearance of Shigaraki ware, which had been popular for tea utensils since the sixteenth century. These pieces executed in the spirit of a historical ware constitute a respected type of copy.
label: Provenance
content: To 1898
label: Provenance
content: Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1898 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1898 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki 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. 299, 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: Seasons: Tea (February 5 to August 7, 2011)
label: Exhibition History
content: Seasons: Arts of Japan (February 5, 2011 to January 13, 2013)
label: Exhibition History
content: Freer: A Taste for Japanese Art (July 1, 2006 to January 1, 2007)
label: Exhibition History
content: The Koetsu Tea Bowl (May 15, 1998 to June 23, 2005)
label: Exhibition History
content: Kyoto Ceramics (November 9, 1984 to April 25, 1985)
label: Exhibition History
content: Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons in Japanese Art (September 14, 1977 to April 8, 1978)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Bunkio Matsuki 松木文恭 (1867-1940) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Kyoto, Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: ceramic
label: Topic
content: turtle
label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: incense
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: F1898.436a-b
objectType: label: Type
content: Container
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Shigaraki-style stoneware with thin clear glaze
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 4.9 x 5.9 x 8.8 cm (1 15/16 x 2 5/16 x 3 7/16 in)