Water Jar
Since the 13th century, village kilns in central Japan have been producing this type of sturdy ceramics for use by farmers and commoners. Echizen remains one of the most important kilns. Echizen ware such as this is admired for its rustic appearance, the irregular, hand-built shape and its surface with an ash glaze that drips down the side to create a rich texture. This glaze formed in the kiln as bits of ash from firing wood floated about the kiln and settled on the pots. In those areas where the ash residue was thickest, the glaze turned into streams.
With James Freeman, Tanaka, Kyoto, before 1992
With Henry Francis Harrison, before 1992
With James Freeman, Tanaka, Kyoto, by September 25- October 19, 1992;
Purchased from James Freeman by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1992.Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 348 (repro.).
Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 385, fig.20 (repro.).
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Ceramics: highlights from the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Museum, 2016), 27( repro.).
Laurence Sickman, “Medieval Stoneware Enhances Collection” in “New at the Nelson” Calander of Events(June 1993): 22, Cover page.
Hayashiya Seizō, Zaigai nihon no shihō, vol.9, (Tokyo: Mainichi Shibunsha, 1981), pl.6.
Patricia J. Graham, Japanese Popular Ceramics in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, vol.25, Orientations (Kansas City: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1994) no.1 (repro.).
