Ofuke ware tea bowl in style of Vietnamese ware

Light gray clay, brown on surface, stained in areas around cracks. White slip; double coating of slip in bottom only. Underglaze painted in decoration in faint blue-gray cobalt: two horizontal lines at midpoint of body, single lines below rim and just above base, single ring in bottom; three floral sprays and three geometric designs paired, equally spaced around outside. Clear glaze, finely crackled, yellowish green where thick. Glaze has popped off above cobalt in some places.

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Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1624-1641
Medium
Stoneware with white slip and cobalt decoration under clear glaze
Style
Ofuke ware
Dimensions
H x Diam: 8.9 Ɨ 14.1 cm (3 1/2 Ɨ 5 9/16 in)
Geography
Japan, Aichi prefecture, Nagoya, Ofuke kiln
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1898.441
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tea bowl

Keywords
Edo period (1615 - 1868), flower, Japan, Ofuke ware, stoneware, tea
Provenance

To 1898
Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1898 [1]

From 1898 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in 1898 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 441, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[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.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Bunkio Matsuki (C.L. Freer source) 1867-1940

Description

Light gray clay, brown on surface, stained in areas around cracks. White slip; double coating of slip in bottom only. Underglaze painted in decoration in faint blue-gray cobalt: two horizontal lines at midpoint of body, single lines below rim and just above base, single ring in bottom; three floral sprays and three geometric designs paired, equally spaced around outside. Clear glaze, finely crackled, yellowish green where thick. Glaze has popped off above cobalt in some places.

Published References
  • John Stevenson, John Guy, Louise Allison Cort. Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition. Chicago. pg. 70, fig. 5.
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 165.
  • Louise Allison Cort. Seto and Mino Ceramics. Washington and Honolulu, 1992. cat. 73, p. 154.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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