Vase

Jar with exerted rim, thin lip and square shoulders. Globular body tapers down into flat foot similar in diameter to the mouth opening Foot trimmed to form footring.

Clay: Porcelain, footrim darkened on surface by use.

Glaze: Exterior lip and rim brushed with red pigment. Purple pigment appears dusted onto shoulders and base, where it has pooled. A grayish-blue glaze is applied to lower shoulders and body. Colorless glaze applied to foot. The interior and the footrim are unglazed.

Decoration: The red lip and rim highlight the purple on the shoulders and the grey of the body. An unglazed portion of the base created a narrow band which suggests a visible footring.

Signatures/Inscriptions: Potter’s mark in cobalt: ” Kozan sei”; paper label: “CMK 24”.

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Maker(s)
Artist: Miyagawa Kozan (1842-1916)
Historical period(s)
Meiji era, ca. 1893-1899
Medium
Porcelain with copper-tinted glaze; cobalt pigment under clear glaze on base
Dimensions
H x W x D: 8.9 x 10.2 x 10.2 cm (3 1/2 x 4 x 4 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
Bequest of Isabel S. Kurtz
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1991.39
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Vase

Keywords
cobalt pigment, Japan, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), porcelain
Provenance

To ?
Charles M. Kurtz (1855-1909). [1]

To 1991
Isabel S. Kurtz (1901-1991). [2]

From 1991
Freer Gallery of Art, bequest of Isabel S. Kurtz (1901-1991). [3]

Notes:

[1] Ms. Isabel Kurtz bequeathed the group of Asian ceramics, F1991.19-.44, to the Freer Gallery of Art. These objects had been collected by her father, Charles M. Kurtz, who was a friend of Charles Freer. Also see Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

[2] See note 1. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 file, Collections Management Office.

[3] See note 2.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles M. Kurtz 1855-1909
Isabel S. Kurtz 1901-1991

Description

Jar with exerted rim, thin lip and square shoulders. Globular body tapers down into flat foot similar in diameter to the mouth opening Foot trimmed to form footring.

Clay: Porcelain, footrim darkened on surface by use.

Glaze: Exterior lip and rim brushed with red pigment. Purple pigment appears dusted onto shoulders and base, where it has pooled. A grayish-blue glaze is applied to lower shoulders and body. Colorless glaze applied to foot. The interior and the footrim are unglazed.

Decoration: The red lip and rim highlight the purple on the shoulders and the grey of the body. An unglazed portion of the base created a narrow band which suggests a visible footring.

Signatures/Inscriptions: Potter's mark in cobalt: " Kozan sei"; paper label: "CMK 24".

Marking(s)

Potter's mark in cobalt: " Kozan sei"; paper label: "CMK 24".

Label

Kozan won prizes at all the major international fairs beginning with Vienna in 1873. His experiments with formulated glazes such as this one began in the early 1880s; by the 1893 Chicago exposition they had become his trademark.

This vase was part of a collection formed by Charles M. Kurtz (1855-1909), during the period when he served as assistant art director for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and art director for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Centennial International Exposition in St. Louis. Kurtz's collecting focused on porcelain with highly colored glazed. Along with these pieces by prominent Japanese potters, Kurtz acquired vases of similar shapes and colors from American and European factories. Kurtz's collection, representative of a broad popular interest in Japanese art in the late nineteenth century, also reflects the growing internationalism in the decoration of ceramics resulting from rapid exchange of information and technology facilitated by the international fairs.

Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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