Ewer
Original Language Title湯桶
CultureJapanese
DateMomoyama period (1568-1615)
MediumNegoro ware; black and red lacquer on wood
DimensionsApproximate: 13 1/4 × 11 1/2 inches (33.66 × 29.21 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mary DeWeese Maxfield in memory of Laura Z. DeWeese
Object numberF68-44 A,B
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionEwer with a high wide handle and spout. The body is decorated with concentric ribs, wide shoulders, and small neck with straight sides with scrolling leaf motif. The lid is wedge-shaped in a six-sided petal form, with a faceted finial. The three feet are decorated with a scroll motif.Gallery Label
Negoro ware was originally
made for use in Buddhist ceremonies. It is
named after the Negoroji temple in southern Osaka where this distinctive
type of lacquerware was thought to have been
made first. Negoro ware features a coating of red lacquer covering an
undercoating of black lacquer. As these wares were
used, the black lacquer became visible under the red, creating a rich
surface texture. Ewers like this may have been designed to hold the hot water
used to prepare tea.
With Joseph U. Seo Gallery, New York, before 1968.
With Mary DeWeese Maxfield, Springfield, MO, by 1968;
Her gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1968.The Asia Society, Archives of Asian Art, vol. XXIII (New York: Asia Society Galleries, 2000), fig. 35, 68.
The Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Bulletin, vol. IV, no. 12 (May, 1971):17, 34.
Ben Birillo, “Negoro Lacquer,” Arts of Asia 12, no. 2 (1982): 65-75.
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