Tomb jar

Tomb jar

13th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Porcelain with transparent pale-blue (qingbai) glaze.

Qingbai ware

HxW: 49.1 x 17.1 cm

F1906.251

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191

West

Southern Song dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Bowl

Bowl

14th-15th century?

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste decorated with glaze

HxW: 9.5 x 20.1 cm

F1905.277

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2

190

West

Syria

France

Paris

Bottle

Bottle

The glassy green-white glaze on this Raqqa bottle is almost entirely covered by silvery areas of partial disintegration. The abraded surface and broken neck no deterrent to Freer, however, who purchased it from the Paris-based dealer Dikran Kelekian in the fall of 1905. As the availability of Japanese art in Western markets began to decline, Kelekian and other dealers looked to the arts of the Islamic world, where recent unofficial excavations had made ceramics and textiles available. Raqqa ware like this was especially appealing to Freer. He discerned chromatic harmonies among his already-substantial collection of East Asian ceramics, his tonalist American paintings, and the iridescent glazed vessels from the Near East.

12th-14th century?

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Glazed clay

HxW: 18.9 x 13.9 cm

F1905.285

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189

West

Syria

France

Paris

Dish

Dish

14th century or later

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste painted under glaze

HxW: 5.2 x 21.8 cm

F1905.240

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188

West

Syria

France

Paris

Pitcher

Pitcher

14th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste decorated with glaze

HxW: 28.3 x 18.8 cm

F1905.287

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187

West

Iran

France

Paris

Bowl

Bowl

1st-3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Clay: soft, white. Glaze: whitish, almost wholly decomposed.

HxW: 7.3 x 14.2 cm

F1904.150

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186

West

Arsacid period

Iraq

Jar

Jar

14th century?

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste painted under glaze

HxW: 19.2 x 15.7 cm

F1907.185

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185

West

Syria

France

Paris

Jar

Jar

12th-14th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste; painted under glaze

HxW: 27.1 x 22.8 cm

F1906.223

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184

West

Syria

France

Paris

Pitcher

Pitcher

Raqqa wares like this pitcher only began to appear on the art market at the turn of the last century, following the excavation of ancient and medieval pottery in northern Mesopotamia, near modern-day Mosul, and in the south, near Baghdad and along the Gulf. Freer was an early enthusiast: he purchased his first piece in 1902 and eventually amassed a substantial collection of Near Eastern ceramics. In Detroit, they were prominently featured throughout the Peacock Room, most notably massed around <i>La Princesse du pays de la porcelaine</i> and in the eye-level shelves along the west wall.

12th-14th century?

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

G. Camas

Stone-paste decorated with glaze

HxW: 25.0 x 17.7 cm

F1906.221

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183

West

Syria

United States

New York

New York

Bowl

Bowl

13th-14th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste decorated with glaze

HxW: 15.4 x 29.3 cm

F1907.183

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182

West

Syria

France

Paris

Vase

Vase

The original greenish-white glaze on this vase is almost entirely covered with the iridescence of decay. Raqqa wares like this one only began to appear on the art market at the turn of the last century, following the excavation of ancient and medieval pottery in northern Mesopotamia, near modern-day Mosul, and in the south, near Baghdad and along the Gulf. Freer was an early enthusiast: he purchased his first piece in 1902 and eventually amassed a substantial collection of Near Eastern ceramics. In Detroit, they were prominently featured throughout the Peacock Room, most notably massed around <i>La Princesse du pays de la porcelaine</i> and in the eye-level shelves along the west wall. Although subsequent connoisseurs and scholars have preferred less ravaged, more highly decorated Islamic ceramics, the complex surface appealed to Freer's aesthetic sensibilities. He regarded this piece as a "good specimen." In his inventory notes he added, "Though damaged, [it] has fortunately escaped the hands of the reckless restorer."

12th-14th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste painted under glaze

HxW: 25.4 x 16.4 cm

F1905.242

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181

West

Syria

France

Paris

Stand

Stand

Possibly Buan kilns

second half of 13th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Stoneware with white slip under celadon glaze

HxW: 8.7 x 18.6 cm

F1907.794

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180.1

West

Goryeo period

Korea

United States

New York

New York

Jar with inlaid design of three phoenixes

Jar

Gangjin or Buan kilns

first half of 13th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Stoneware with white and black inlay and black painting under celadon glaze

HxW: 20.5 x 20.7 cm

F1907.367

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180

West

Goryeo period

Korea

United States

New York

New York

Jar with flattened sides

Jar

Gangjin or Buan kilns

late 13th-early 14th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Stoneware with white and black slips inlaid under celadon glaze; gold lacquer repair

HxWxD: 25.4 x 20.2 x 17.8 cm

F1904.330

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179

West

Goryeo period

Korea

United States

New York

New York

Ewer

Ewer

Gangjin or Buan kilns

Freer purchased this ewer from the collection of Horace Allen, a Presbyterian medical missionary who traveled to Korea in 1884. Allen went on to assemble a remarkable collection of ceramics, many taken from the tombs of Korean nobility. Freer purchased his entire set of eighty pieces when it was offered for sale in 1907. The technique of preparing celadon glazes, which derive their color from traces of iron fired in a high-temperature reducing atmosphere, was first developed by Chinese potters and began to be used in Korea during the 10th century. Especially noteworthy here are the naturalistic sculptural elements, such as the elaborate finial surmounted by a phoenix atop the peony-blossom lid; the vessel and its ornamentation are based on metal prototypes.

late 11th-early 12th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dr. Horace N. Allen

Stoneware with celadon glaze

HxW: 27.1 x 15.3 cm

F1907.286a-b

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178

West

Goryeo period

Korea

United States

Toledo

OH

Long-necked bottle

Bottle

Gangjin or Buan kilns

12th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dr. Horace N. Allen

Stoneware with celadon glaze

HxW: 30.0 x 16.2 cm

F1907.283

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177

West

Goryeo period

Korea

United States

Toledo

OH

Tomb jar

Tomb jar

early 1st-early 3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxW: 38.0 x 26.3 cm

F1905.89

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176

West

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Sake bottle with landscape decoration

Bottle (tokkuri)

Hiyamizu kiln

Freer acquired this Satsuma ware sake flask in 1905. Its delicate landscape design, attributed to Kano Tangen, a member of the Kano professional school of painters, reminded him of the very first Asian ceramic to enter his collection (F1892.26), and he considered it to be "by the same workman." Although Freer avoided the commercial versions of decorated Satsuma ware, made for sale at international expositions, he probably appreciated the parallels between this jar's refined decoration and the Japanese and American paintings he collected.

Decoration attributed to Kano Tangen

18th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

American Art Association

Stoneware with cobalt pigment under clear colorless glaze

Satsuma ware, White Satsuma type

HxWxD: 23.2 x 18.7 x 13.5 cm

F1905.41

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175

West

Edo period

Kagoshima

Japan

United States

New York

New York

Tea ceremony water jar with design of pine and plum trees

Tea ceremony water jar (tomobuta mizusashi)

False signature of Hon'ami Koho (Kuchu)

19th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Kano Oshima

Stoneware with white slip under lead glaze and natural wood-ash glaze

HxW: 18.0 x 19.4 cm

F1901.3a-b

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174

West

Edo period or Meiji era

Japan

United States

New York

New York

Tea ceremony water jar

Tea ceremony water jar (mizusashi)

Higashi Sarayama kiln

1850-1868

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Stoneware with ash and iron glazes; lacquered wooden lid

Takatori ware

HxWxD: 15.8 x 14.8 x 14.8 cm

F1898.486a-b

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173

West

Edo period

Fukuoka

Japan

United States

New York

New York

Bottle

Bottle

late 13th-early 14th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Stoneware with black and white inlays under celadon glaze

HxW: 35.6 x 19.8 cm

F1907.76

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172

West

Goryeo period

Buan or Gangjin

Korea

Bottle

Bottle

Gangjin kilns

14th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Stoneware with white and black slips inlaid beneath celadon glaze; silver cap.

HxW: 36.2 x 20.8 cm

F1897.46a-b

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170

West

Goryeo period

Korea

United States

New York

New York

Tomb jar

Tomb jar

early 1st-early 3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxW: 43.2 x 35.0 cm

F1900.45

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169

West

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Jar

Jar

Freer bought this late Ming or early Qing dynasty jar from the New York branch of Yamanaka and Company, where he was a regular customer. At the time, Freer believed that it was an Edo-period piece of Imari ware from Japan. Describing it in his notes as "extraordinary," he placed it between two Satsuma ware bottles, each decorated with a landscape design in subtle shades of blue. He may have discerned a chromatic relationship between those two vessels and this rough porcelain jar, with its cobalt decoration of floral vine scrolls. The jar's rim formation shows that it was made in imitation of Chinese pewter containers for storing green leaf tea and fitted with a flat inner lid and cylindrical outer lid that would have just covered the unglazed area of the neck. By the time Freer acquired the jar, however, the lost double lid had been replaced with a carved wooden cover of the sort used on Chinese ginger jars displayed in Western parlors and dining rooms at the turn of the century.

16th-17th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Porcelain with cobalt decoration under clear glaze

HxW: 15.1 x 15.2 cm

F1902.240a-d

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169

West

Ming or Qing dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Vase in the form of an archaic Chinese cong

Vase

1700-1800

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Stoneware with rice-straw ash and copper-green glazes

Agano or Shodai ware

HxW: 23.7 x 8.3 cm

F1897.53

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2

168

West

Edo period

Japan

United States

New York

New York

Vase, with lacquer lid for use as tea ceremony water jar

Vase or tea-ceremony water jar (mizusashi)

1596-1615

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Matsuki Bunkyo

Stoneware with rice-straw-ash and iron glazes

Karatsu ware, Chosen Karatsu type

HxW: 22.1 x 11.9 cm

F1905.274a-b

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167

West

Momoyama period

Imari city

Japan

United States

Boston

Massachusetts

Ewer

Ewer

Gangjin or Buan kilns

first half of 12th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dr. Horace N. Allen

Stoneware with celadon glaze

HxW: 27.0 x 16.8 cm

F1907.287

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2

166

West

Goryeo period

Korea

United States

Toledo

OH

Ewer

Ewer

Gangjin or Buan kilns

Freer purchased this ewer from the collection of Horace Allen, a Presbyterian medical missionary who traveled to Korea in 1884. Allen went on to assemble a remarkable collection of ceramics, many taken from the tombs of Korean nobility. Freer purchased his entire set of eighty pieces when it was offered for sale in 1907. This piece is an example of Korean celadon. The technique of preparing celadon glazes, which derive their color from traces of iron fired in a high-temperature reducing atmosphere, was first developed by Chinese potters and began to be used in Korea during the 10th century. This piece, which dates to the high point of Korean celadon production in the 12th century, features a grayish green glaze with areas of brown and a crackled surface. In the Peacock Room it was grouped with a number of other Korean celadons and beneath a row of green, slightly iridescent Chinese funeral jars.

late 12th-early 13th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dr. Horace N. Allen

Stoneware with celadon glaze

HxW: 21.5 x 16.1 cm

F1907.288a-b

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2

165

West

Goryeo period

Korea

United States

Toledo

OH

Tomb jar

Tomb jar (hu)

early 1st-early 3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxW: 36.4 x 29.2 cm

F1905.87

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164

West

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Tea ceremony water jar

Tea ceremony water jar (mizusashi)

Mino kilns

first half of 17th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Tozo Takayanagi

Stoneware with ash and iron glazes

Mino ware, Ofuke type

HxWxD: 18.4 x 18.6 x 18.6 cm

F1893.3a-b

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162

West

Edo period

Japan

United States

New York

New York

Bottle

Bottle

Hiyamizu kiln

Freer, who did not care for porcelain, admired the warmer appearance of white or cream stoneware from the Satsuma kilns in southern Japan. This hexagonal bottle was Freer's first acquisition of an Asian ceramic. The bottle bears scenes of fishermen along a river&#151;a "Whistlerian landscape," as Freer described it in his inventory notes. Although Freer avoided the commercial versions of decorated Satsuma ware, made for sale at international expositions, he probably appreciated the parallels between this jar's refined decoration and the Japanese and American paintings he collected. In 1905, Freer acquired another sake flask of Satsuma ware (F1905.41), which was decorated so similarly to his first Japanese ceramic piece that Freer considered it to be "by the same workman."

Decoration attributed to Kano Tangen

18th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Tozo Takayanagi

Stoneware with cobalt pigment under clear glaze

Satsuma ware, White Satsuma type

HxW: 21.8 x 17.8 cm

F1892.26

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162

West

Edo period

Kagoshima

Japan

United States

New York

New York

Vase

Vase

Ryumonji kilns

18th-19th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Matsuki Bunkyo

Stoneware with iron and rice-straw-ash glazes; red lacquer repairs.

Satsuma ware, Ryumonji kilns

HxW: 24.0 x 10.9 cm

F1901.24

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161

West

Edo period

Kajiki town

Japan

United States

Boston

Massachusetts