Tea-ceremony water jar

Tea ceremony water jar (hitoeguchi mizusashi)

The simple bucket shape of this early seventeenth-century Japanese lidded jar disguises the intricate workmanship which produced it. In Japanese, the shape is known as <i>hitoe-guchi</i>, literally, "plain rim," and it began to be made in the sixteenth century, probably from a Chinese bronze prototype. The shape is so versatile that it became a classic pottery model that continued to be produced at Seto kilns throughout the Edo period. Although this pottery was thrown on a wheel, the throwing marks are unobtrusive, a mark of quality craftsmanship. The finishing technique involved hand-trimming or carving, after which several glazes were applied to produce a richly mottled surface, as was customary of Chinese ceramics. The thin lacquered wooden lid overhangs the rim slightly and accentuates the vessel's elegant shape. When Edward Sylvester Morse, the nineteenth-century Boston scholar and collector, first encountered this water jar in Freer's collection, he is said to have exclaimed, "My God, that's great. Wonderful things&#151;ripping&#151;a corker."

early 17th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Stoneware with iron and ash glazes; lacquered wooden lid

Seto ware

HxWxD: 16.3 x 20.4 x 20.4 cm

F1898.454a-b

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1898.454a-b.jpg

2

17

North

Edo period

Seto

Japan

United States

New York

New York