Vase in mimikuchi form

After Freer purchased this mottled, wine-red—nearly black—glazed vase from Matsuki Bunkyo, he described it as "rare and beautiful." He suspected that its form was influenced by Korean pottery, and therefore believed, erroneously, that the vase was an example of seventeenth-century Satsuma ware. Satsuma ware originated when skilled Korean potters were forcibly relocated following the Japanese Invasions of Korea between 1592 and 1598. Freer's vase, however, is now known to be of more recent date. It is a late nineteenth century example of Kyoto or Seto ware. The form of this vase, with its distinctive wing-shaped handles may be borrowed from prototypes worked in metal.