The Peacock Room Comes to America: West Wall Ceramics

Photograph by George R. Swain.
Charles Lang Freer Papers, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

China, Eastern Han dynasty, early 1st-early 3rd century
Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
F1905.88

In the Peacock Room in Detroit, Freer displayed this Han dynasty tomb jar with several other examples of early Chinese funerary wares. The cultural significance of the jar, however, was probably less compelling for him than its textured, iridescent silvery-green surface. Around the same time that he purchased the jar, he was also acquiring medieval Near Eastern ceramics and contemporary art pottery from the Pewabic workshop in Detroit. Both of these types of ceramics also featured iridescent glazes and mottled surfaces, qualities that, for Freer, resonated with the tonalism of his American paintings collection.

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By Agano Yaguma, 1795-1871
Japan, Kumamoto prefecture, Yatsushiro ware
Edo period, 1830-60
Stoneware with white slip inlaid under clear glaze
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
F1898.140

This Edo period bottle, which Freer purchased in New York from Yamanaka and Company, features a freehand spray of leaves along with a more formalized "rope-curtain" collar along the neck. In the Peacock Room in Detroit, it was exhibited with other dark, glossy ceramics, some of which were decorated with touches of gold pigment.

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China, Eastern Han dynasty, early 1st-early 3rd century
Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
F1905.82

In the Peacock Room in Detroit, Freer displayed this Han dynasty tomb jar with several other examples of early Chinese funerary wares. The cultural significance of the jar, however, was probably less compelling for him than its textured, iridescent silvery-green surface. Around the same time that he purchased the jar, he was also acquiring medieval Near Eastern ceramics and contemporary art pottery from Detroit's Pewabic workshop. Both of these types of ceramics also featured iridescent glazes and mottled surfaces, qualities that, for Freer, resonated with the tonalism of his American paintings collection.

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Syria (Raqqa, Mesopotamia), 12th century
Stone-paste painted under glaze
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
F1902.244

Raqqa wares like this one-handled pot only began to appear on the art market at the turn of the last century, following the excavation of ancient and medieval pottery in northern Mesopotamia, near modern-day Mosul, and in the south, near Baghdad and along the Gulf. Freer was an early enthusiast: he purchased this piece in 1902 and eventually amassed a substantial collection of Near Eastern ceramics. In Detroit, they were prominently featured throughout the Peacock Room, most notably massed around La Princesse du pays de la porcelaine and in the eye-level shelves along the west wall.

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This pot has been adopted on behalf of the Friends of the Freer House at Merill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State University.

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Iran, Saljuq period, 1169-1233
Stone-paste painted under glaze
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
F1906.40

Described by Freer as "important and rare," this turquoise-colored bowl was believed to be Mesopotamian, an example of so-called Raqqa ware. It is now recognized as Iranian in origin. Encouraged by the Paris-based art dealer Dikran Kelekian, Freer became an avid collector of medieval and ancient Near Eastern ceramics, eventually amassing a substantial collection. In Detroit they were prominently featured throughout the Peacock Room, most notably massed around La Princesse du pays de la porcelaine and in the eye-level shelves along the west wall.

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Decoration attributed to Kano Tangen (1679-1767)
Japan, Satsuma ware, Hiyamizu kiln
Edo period, 18th century
Stoneware with cobalt pigment under clear glaze
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
F1892.26

Freer, who did not care for porcelain, admired the warmer appearance of white or cream stoneware from the Satsuma kilns in southern Japan. This hexagonal bottle was Freer's first acquisition of an Asian ceramic. The bottle bears scenes of fishermen along a river--a "Whistlerian landscape," as Freer described it in his inventory notes. Although Freer avoided the commercial versions of decorated Satsuma ware, made for sale at international expositions, he probably appreciated the parallels between this jar's refined decoration and the Japanese and American paintings he collected. In 1905, Freer acquired another sake flask of Satsuma ware (F1905.41), which was decorated so similarly to his first Japanese ceramic piece that Freer considered it to be "by the same workman."

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This pot has been adopted by Jo H. Kinkaid and by Jeffrey P. Cunard.

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Decoration attributed to Kano Tangen (1679-1767)
Japan, Satsuma ware
Edo period, 18th-19th century
Pottery with cobalt under glaze
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
F1905.41

Freer acquired this Satsuma ware sake flask in 1905. Its delicate landscape design, attributed to Kano Tangen, a member of the Kano professional school of painters, reminded him of the very first Asian ceramic to enter his collection (F1892.26), and he considered it to be "by the same workman." Although Freer avoided the commercial versions of decorated Satsuma ware, made for sale at international expositions, he probably appreciated the parallels between this jar's refined decoration and the Japanese and American paintings he collected.

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This pot has been adopted in memory of Nasser Ahari.

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Korea, Goryeo period, 12th century
Stoneware with celadon glaze
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
F1907.288

Freer purchased this ewer from the collection of Horace Allen, a Presbyterian medical missionary who traveled to Korea in 1884. Allen went on to assemble a remarkable collection of ceramics, many taken from the tombs of Korean nobility. Freer purchased his entire set of eighty pieces when it was offered for sale in 1907. This piece is an example of Korean celadon. The technique of preparing celadon glazes, which derive their color from traces of iron fired in a high-temperature reducing atmosphere, was first developed by Chinese potters and began to be used in Korea during the 10th century. This piece, which dates to the high point of Korean celadon production in the 12th century, features a grayish green glaze with areas of brown and a crackled surface. In the Peacock Room it was grouped with a number of other Korean celadons and beneath a row of green, slightly iridescent Chinese funeral jars.

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Korea, Jeolla-do province, Gangjin or Buan
Goryeo period, 12th century
Stoneware with celadon glaze
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
F1907.286

Freer purchased this ewer from the collection of Horace Allen, a Presbyterian medical missionary who traveled to Korea in 1884. Allen went on to assemble a remarkable collection of ceramics, many taken from the tombs of Korean nobility. Freer purchased his entire set of eighty pieces when it was offered for sale in 1907. The technique of preparing celadon glazes, which derive their color from traces of iron fired in a high-temperature reducing atmosphere, was first developed by Chinese potters and began to be used in Korea during the 10th century. Especially noteworthy here are the naturalistic sculptural elements, such as the elaborate finial surmounted by a phoenix atop the peony-blossom lid; the vessel and its ornamentation are based on metal prototypes.

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Syria (Raqqa, Mesopotamia), probably 12th-14th century
Stone-paste decorated with glaze
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
F1906.221

Raqqa wares like this pitcher only began to appear on the art market at the turn of the last century, following the excavation of ancient and medieval pottery in northern Mesopotamia, near modern-day Mosul, and in the south, near Baghdad and along the Gulf. Freer was an early enthusiast: he purchased his first piece in 1902 and eventually amassed a substantial collection of Near Eastern ceramics. In Detroit, they were prominently featured throughout the Peacock Room, most notably massed around La Princesse du pays de la porcelaine and in the eye-level shelves along the west wall.

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(What is this?)

Syria (Raqqa, Mesopotamia), 12th-14th century
Stone-paste painted under glaze
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
F1905.242

The original greenish-white glaze on this vase is almost entirely covered with the iridescence of decay. Raqqa wares like this one only began to appear on the art market at the turn of the last century, following the excavation of ancient and medieval pottery in northern Mesopotamia, near modern-day Mosul, and in the south, near Baghdad and along the Gulf. Freer was an early enthusiast: he purchased his first piece in 1902 and eventually amassed a substantial collection of Near Eastern ceramics. In Detroit, they were prominently featured throughout the Peacock Room, most notably massed around La Princesse du pays de la porcelaine and in the eye-level shelves along the west wall. Although subsequent connoisseurs and scholars have preferred less ravaged, more highly decorated Islamic ceramics, the complex surface appealed to Freer's aesthetic sensibilities. He regarded this piece as a "good specimen." In his inventory notes he added, "Though damaged, [it] has fortunately escaped the hands of the reckless restorer."

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China, Southern Song dynasty, 13th century
Porcelain with transparent pale-blue (qingbai) glaze
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
F1906.252

This tall slender tomb jar from the Southern Song dynasty is one of eight such elaborately decorated vessels that Freer displayed as pairs in the Peacock Room in Detroit. He purchased this example from the New York gallery of Yamanaka and Company, and he was told it and other "specimens of this kind" had been "recovered from ancient Buddhist tombs" in Korea. It is now known to be Chinese in origin and to date to the thirteenth century. Originally an accoutrement of burial in both China and Korea, it would have been paired with another jar of the same shape, both of which would have held funeral offerings of grain meant to assist the deceased in the afterlife.

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