Object Details
- Description
- Water-jar (mizusashi) in form of a well-head, quadrilateral, cypress (sugi) wood cover with nashiji lacquer lining and metal ornaments of crab and bird.
- Clay: hard, dense, cream-colored stoneware
- Glaze: transparent, finely crackled
- Decoration: in pink, light green and pale lavender enamels and gold, over glaze. Chrysanthemums, grasses and vines outside. Peony scroll band at top of inside. Underglaze impression of grasses outside.
- Label
- In the tea ceremony, the water jar holds cold water used to replenish the kettle as boiling water is ladled out to make bowls of tea. Tea practitioners paid special attention to certain famous wells as sources of delicious water-a key element in Japanese gardens. This jar's form represents the wooden curb surrounding such a well. Chrysanthemums rendered in pale colors and gold suggest a private garden setting enclosing the well and also indicate the season.
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- Cornucopia: Ceramics of Southern Japan (December 19, 2009 to January 9, 2011)
- East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)
- Freer: A Taste for Japanese Art (July 1, 2006 to January 1, 2007)
- Games, Contests and Artful Play in Japan (March 19 to October 23, 2005)
- Garden Potteries and Official Kilns: Clan-Sponsored Ceramics in the Edo Period (January 16, 1986 to November 3, 1986)
- Japanese Art—Autumn Voices (October 14, 1981 to December 16, 1981)
- Japanese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to January 17, 1980)
- Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons in Japanese Art (September 14, 1977 to April 8, 1978)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Charles Lang Freer
- 1880-1890
- Period
- Meiji era
- Accession Number
- F1897.10a-b
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Vessel
- Medium
- White stoneware with enamels over clear glaze; wood, metal, and lacquer lid
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 17.9 x 17.3 x 17.4 cm (7 1/16 x 6 13/16 x 6 7/8 in)
- Style
- Satsuma ware, Nishiki type
- Origin
- Kagoshima prefecture, Japan
- Related Online Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Topic
- lacquer
- ceramic
- peony
- Satsuma ware, Nishiki type
- Meiji era (1868 - 1912)
- water
- tea
- crab
- swallow
- Japan
- stoneware
- Japanese Art
- Charles Lang Freer collection
- Record ID
- fsg_F1897.10a-b
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3c1ce19aa-89d7-4351-a0f3-7aae794e9c1c
