Gourd-shaped vase

Purchased at the sale of the Samuel Colman Collection as an example of Japanese Tamba ware, this gourd-shaped vase nevertheless prompted Freer to wonder about its origins: "The question arises," he noted, "is not his piece of early Chinese manufacture?" Because the history of Asian ceramics was imperfectly understood in by American scholars and collectors in the early years of the twentieth century, pieces were often misattributed. In this case, Freer was correct to suspect that this was a Chinese piece: It was not, however, as old as he thought: the vase is now dated to the eighteenth or nineteenth century and regarded as an example of Yixing ware from Jinagsu province. In the Peacock Room in Detroit, the vase was displayed with a number of other tall, monochromatic vases and jars with dark, complex glazes and mottled surfaces.