Tea caddy with two lugs

Tea caddy (chaire), cylindrical with two blind loop handles. Ivory cover.
Clay: hard, grayish, lustrous brown on surface.
Glaze: thin wash of metallic brown; overflow of olive-brown edged with brilliant black. Interior glazed.

Historical period(s)
Edo period, late 17th-early 18th century
Medium
Stoneware with iron glaze; ivory lid
Style
Takatori ware
Dimensions
H x Diam: 9.5 × 5.6 cm (3 3/4 × 2 3/16 in)
Geography
Japan, Fukuoka prefecture, Koishibara, Tsuzumi Kamadoko kiln
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1901.131a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tea caddy (chaire)

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

To 1901
Yamanaka & Company, New York, NY, to 1901 [1]

From 1901 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1901 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 1021, 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.

[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
Yamanaka and Co. (C.L. Freer source) 1917-1965

Description

Tea caddy (chaire), cylindrical with two blind loop handles. Ivory cover.
Clay: hard, grayish, lustrous brown on surface.
Glaze: thin wash of metallic brown; overflow of olive-brown edged with brilliant black. Interior glazed.

Label

By the second quarter of the 17th century, Takatori wares from the Kuroda domain of Chikuzen in northern Kyushu came under the prevailing aesthetic influence of the tea master Kobori Enshu.  While based on Chinese prototypes, this classic "Enshu Takatori" tea caddy shows the sleek contours and complex glazes that Enshu preferred.

Published References
  • Andrew Maske. Potters and Patrons in Edo Period Japan: Takatori Ware and the Kuroda Domain. Farnham, Surry, UK and Burlington, Vermont. pl. 20.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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