Vase
date: label: Date
content: 1600-1615
label: Period
content: Momoyama period
notes: label: Description
content: Flower vase (hana-ike) of irregular shape with two bulbs at base and very uneven cylinder above. Flat foot with some glaze. Two square knob handles. Lacquer repairs and much paint on body.
label: Description
content: Clay: medium coarse, fired iron red where unglazed.
label: Description
content: Glaze: uneven cream and grayish color, crackled; some brownish, very uneven.
label: Description
content: Decoration: clay incised in some areas with both thick and thin lines.
label: Label
content: This vase unites extremes of formality and rusticity in a manner typical of Iga tea wares. The form was inspired by antique Chinese celadon-glazed vases, yet the rough surface bears irregular ash-glaze deposits resulting from long exposure to the flames of a wood-fired kiln. The rich coloration of this vase attracted Charles Lang Freer, even though wood-fired stoneware did not become widely popular among Western collectors until recent decades.
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. 57, 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: Japanese Art from the Collection (October 26, 2024 - ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: The Power to See Beauty (October 14, 2017 to September 6, 2022)
label: Exhibition History
content: Imperfectly Beautiful: Inventing Japanese Ceramic Style (October 14, 2017 - October 14, 2019)
label: Exhibition History
content: Golden Seams: The Japanese Art of Mending Ceramics (November 8, 2008 to May 10, 2009)
label: Exhibition History
content: Freer and Tea: 100 Years of The Book of Tea (November 19, 2005 to May 29, 2006)
label: Exhibition History
content: Isamu Noguchi and Modern Japanese Ceramics (May 3 to September 7, 2003)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art (May 9, 1993 to November 21, 1995)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art (November 7, 1986 to July 19, 1988)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Ceramics from Past to Present (February 18, 1983 to February 16, 1984)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to January 17, 1980)
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: Iga kilns, Mie prefecture, Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: lacquer
label: Topic
content: ceramic
label: Topic
content: Iga ware
label: Topic
content: Momoyama period (1573 - 1615)
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 06: 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: F1898.451
objectType: label: Type
content: Vessel
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: White stoneware with multiple layers of ash glaze, iron glaze; gold lacquer repairs
label: Dimensions
content: H x Diam: 28.8 × 15.4 cm (11 5/16 × 6 1/16 in)
label: Style
content: Iga ware