Vase for Buddhist altar

Light gray clay. Two lion-head-shaped loop handles. Incised decoration on neck and base; molded and hand-formed relief decor of peonies accented with under-glaze cobalt blue. Clear glaze, crackled, yellow-green where thick. Splashed on both sides of neck with opaque bluish white unofu glaze. Clear glaze on inside.

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Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1800-1868
Medium
Stoneware with cobalt pigment under clear glaze, rice-straw ash glaze
Style
Seto ware, Ofuke type
Dimensions
H x Diam: 34.9 Ɨ 10.9 cm (13 3/4 Ɨ 4 5/16 in)
Geography
Japan, Aichi prefecture, Seto, Akazu village
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1901.119
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Vase

Keywords
altar, Buddhism, Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, peony, Seto ware, Ofuke type, stoneware
Provenance

To 1901
Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1901 [1]

From 1901 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in 1901 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

Notes:

[1] See Pottery List, L. 1007, 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. Two lion-head-shaped loop handles. Incised decoration on neck and base; molded and hand-formed relief decor of peonies accented with under-glaze cobalt blue. Clear glaze, crackled, yellow-green where thick. Splashed on both sides of neck with opaque bluish white unofu glaze. Clear glaze on inside.

Label

Ofuke ware is associated with a kiln operated by Seto potters within Nagoya Castle, but certain Mino kilns also made Ofuke-style ware. Ofuke ware was made for private use and distribution by the Owari Tokugawa house, rulers of the domain that encompassed both Seto and Mino.

Published References
  • Warren E. Cox. The Book of Pottery and Porcelain. 2 vols., New York. vol. 1: p. 240, pl. 73.
  • Louise Allison Cort. Seto and Mino Ceramics. Washington and Honolulu, 1992. cat. 70, p. 151.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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