伝尾形乾山　松文水差|Water Jar (Mizusashi) with Pine Trees

Ogata Kenzan

ca. 1720 · Stoneware with underglaze iron oxide; lacquer cover · Asian Art

This mizusashi is a container that would have been used in the tea ceremony to hold freshwater to rinse the tea bowls or fill the kettle. The potter coated the dark clay ground of this jar in a white slip, providing a light background for painting. The trunks of the stylized pine trees were painted in almost calligraphic strokes, while the leafy tops seem almost like puffs of clouds. The style is that of Ogata Kenzan (1663–1743), though this jar was probably produced by one of his followers. Kenzan was an amateur painter and potter active in the Edo period, and was known for his painterly, decorative wares.

Artist

Ogata Kenzan

Date

ca. 1720

Medium

Stoneware with underglaze iron oxide; lacquer cover

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929