Seto or Mino ware tea bowl

Buff clay concealed by iron wash. Foot trimmed in squared Jian-ware style. Dark brown iron glaze splashed with ash glaze, producing medium and golden brown spots; glaze ends evenly, well above foot. Foot unglazed. Gold lacquer and relief-sprinkled design (takamakie) lacquer repairs.

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Historical period(s)
Muromachi period, 1510-1530
Medium
Stoneware with iron and ash glazes over iron slip; makie lacquer repairs
Style
Seto ware or Mino ware
Dimensions
H x Diam: 6.3 Ɨ 16.8 cm (2 1/2 Ɨ 6 5/8 in)
Geography
Japan, Aichi prefecture or Gifu prefecture
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1900.53
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tea bowl

Keywords
Japan, lacquer repair, Mino ware, Muromachi period (1333 - 1573), Seto ware, stoneware, tea
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Buff clay concealed by iron wash. Foot trimmed in squared Jian-ware style. Dark brown iron glaze splashed with ash glaze, producing medium and golden brown spots; glaze ends evenly, well above foot. Foot unglazed. Gold lacquer and relief-sprinkled design (takamakie) lacquer repairs.

Label

For Japanese tea drinkers who could not afford Chinese tea bowls, reasonable substitutes were available from the Seto and Mino kilns. The dark, spotted glaze on this bowl was inspired by Chinese Jizhou ware. Various Japanese owners repaired a bad break in the bowl with plain gold lacquer and replaced a chip in the rim with lacquer bearing a gold cherry-blossom pattern.

Published References
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 137.
  • Stephen Weintraub, Kanya Tsujimoto, Sadae Y. Walters. Urushi and Conservation: The Use of Japanese Lacquer in the Restoration of Japanese Art. vol. 11 Washington and Ann Arbor. fig. 28-29.
  • Louise Allison Cort. Seto and Mino Ceramics. Washington and Honolulu, 1992. pp. 19, 74-75, no. 8.
  • Bonnie Kemske. Kintsugi: The Poetic Mend. London, England, April 2021. p. 42, fig. 31.
  • Ann Yonemura. Japanese Lacquer. Washington, 1979. cat. 55, p. 90.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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