Tea bowl

This shallow, amber-glazed tea bowl is dated to the third quarter of the sixteenth century Muromachi or Momoyama period, and is associated with the historic ogama production phases of the Mino kilns of Japan. At the time of production, iron was added to the ash glaze to enrich its coloration; over time, dregs of tea stained the bowl, giving it an even warmer finish. Freer purchased this bowl in 1898, on New York's Fifth Avenue, from Yamanaka and Company, noting that it was "extremely rare-very early." The shape of this tea bowl is termed hirawan and the vessel would traditionally be placed on a lacquer stand. In the Peacock Room in Detroit, however, it appeared on a shelf to the left of La Princesse du Pays de la porcelaine.