Skip to main content
Collections Menu
SAM'S collection
Tea bowl, named “Jewel Beetle”
Tea bowl, named “Jewel Beetle”

Tea bowl, named “Jewel Beetle”

Date17th century
Label TextCreated by Donyu, the third-generation master potter of the Raku family, these two ceramic works were molded by hand without using a potter’s wheel and covered in an opaque red or black glaze without any decorative designs. Such simple and yet elegant tea utensils were prized by tea masters such as the famous Sen no Rikyu (1522–1591), who praised unpretentious beauty as superior to decorative opulence.
Object number52.68
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Tea House Gallery Installation", November 26, 2004 - January 30, 2006. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.Published ReferencesFuller, Richard E. "Japanese Art in the Seattle Art Museum: An Historical Sketch." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1960 ("Presented in commemoration of the Hundredth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and the United States of America"), no. 150 Halper, Vicki. "Clay Revisions: Plate, Cup, Vase." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1987, fig. 9, p. 32 Abercrombie, Stanley and Sherrill Whiton, "Interior Design & Decoration", Pearson, Prentice Hall, 2008, p. 247
Credit LineGift of Dr. Masatoshi Okochi, Tokyo
Dimensions3 3/8 x 5 x 2 in. (8.6 x 12.7 x 5.1cm)
MediumEarthenware with lead glaze; Raku ware
Tea cup, named “Red Plum in Winter”
early 17th century
Object number: 52.67
2002
Object number: 2003.8
2001
Object number: 2003.7
Bowl with tiger eye glaze
1946
Object number: 46.91
Low bowl
1945
Object number: 46.92
Bowl with tiger eye glaze
1946
Object number: 82.203
Bowl (flaring shape)
1946
Object number: 2001.6
Bowl (small)
1947
Object number: 2001.7
Four handled jar
Chinese
8th-9th century
Object number: 58.14
Chinese
618-907
Object number: 33.22
Hu: jar with continuous frieze
Chinese
206 B.C. - A.D. 9
Object number: 33.46