Kenzan-style water jar with crane and fishnet design
Label Text
Dealer Matsuki Bunkyo sold this water jar to Freer in 1898, describing it as a work by the renowned Kyoto ceramist Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743) or one of his earliest followers. Edward Sylvester Morse, a noted authority on Japanese art, bluntly informed Freer, "Don't believe Kenzan ever made that in the world"; the vessel is now attributed to a nineteenth-century imitator. In the Peacock Room in Detroit, Freer displayed this jar, with its design of cranes and fishnets, among other vessels featuring figurative surface decorations.
Object Name
Tea ceremony water jar (tomobuta mizusashi)
Ware
Raku ware, unknown workshop
Dated
late 19th century
Period
Meiji era
Medium
Buff clay; white slip, iron pigment under transparent and ochre-colored lead glazes
Dimensions
HxWxD: 18.8 x 21.4 x 21.4 cm
City
Kyoto
Country
Japan
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Iteration
2
Shelf Number
69
Wall
East
Artist
Imitation of Ogata Kenzan
Title
Kenzan-style water jar with crane and fishnet design
Object Number
F1898.52a-b
Freer Source
Matsuki Bunkyo
Freer Source City
Boston
Freer Source State
Massachusetts
Freer Source Country
United States
Image
http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1898.52a-b.jpg
Collection
Citation
Imitation of Ogata Kenzan, "Kenzan-style water jar with crane and fishnet design," in The Peacock Room, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Accession No. F1898.52a-b, Item #3164, http://www.peacockroom.wayne.edu/items/show/3164 (accessed April 25, 2024).
