Shigaraki ware jar for hand-washing water
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1860-1865
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Okuda Shinsai (1821-1902)
notes: label: Description
content: Clay: light gray stoneware.
label: Description
content: Glaze: clear colorless ash glaze (namijiro) with four large areas of copper-tinted glaze, yellowish-olive splashed with blood-red, cracked.
label: Marks
content: Two marks: kyo in jar shaped frame; shin in round frame, impressed near base of jar.
label: Label
content: Okuda Shinsai was famous both as a maker of large ceramic pieces and as a sumo wrestler. This sort of jar could be found in every Japanese home, but Shinsai's version is distinguished by the rare use of underglaze copper-red, a difficult and costly color to achieve.
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. 39, 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 of the Meiji Era (September 20, 1997 to April 26, 1998)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Ceramics from Past to Present (February 18, 1983 to February 16, 1984)
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: Shigaraki, Shiga prefecture, Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: ceramic
label: Topic
content: Shigaraki ware
label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: water
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: F1898.481
objectType: label: Type
content: Vessel
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Stoneware with white and copper glazes
label: Dimensions
content: H x Diam: 25.9 × 24.5 cm (10 3/16 × 9 5/8 in)
label: Style
content: Shigaraki ware