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Current Exhibitions Future Exhibitions Back to Exhibitions )
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Seto Ware Stone Plate, Plate 18th to early 19th century. Glazed stoneware, 5 x 27.5 cm. The Montgomery Collection MC 332
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Hamada Shoji, Stoneware Plate, ca. 1970. Glazed Stoneware, H 4.2 x D 24 cm. The Montgomery Collection MC 519
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Yumino Ware Basin, late 18th century. Glazed stoneware, 35 x 36 cm. MC 295
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Seto Ware Saki Bottle, 18th century. Glazed Stoneware, H 20 x W 14 cm. The Montgomery Collection MC 483
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Satsuma Ware Sake Bottle, 17th century. Glazed stoneware, H. 23.5 x Dia. 13.5 cm. The Montgomery Collection MC 324
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Quiet Beauty: Fifty Centuries of Japanese Folk Ceramics from the Montgomery Collection May 9–July 18, 2004 
Bizen Ware Saki Bottle, 16th century. Stoneware, 30 x 28 cm MC 702
Quiet Beauty consists of one hundred ceramics in the Japanese folk tradition from the Montgomery Collection of Switzerland. These ceramics were primarily produced for everyday use but are nonetheless astonishing for their variety and profound aesthetic impact. Pieces spanning nearly five thousand years were chosen to display the distinct combination of form, color, texture, gesture, and sense of spiritual harmony that has brought Japanese pottery its worldwide renown.
Over many years, Jeffrey Montgomery has come to assemble one of the most comprehensive collections of the Japanese arts of daily life outside Japan. Including objects of practically every medium and type, the Montgomery Collection is particularly regarded for the high quality of individual examples. Its richness in ceramics enables this exhibition to present a breathtaking vista of the world's great pottery tradition and an insight into the subtle beauty of form and function in utilitarian objects.
Quiet Beauty encompasses prehistoric beakers; medieval storage jars; bowls, bottles, and plates from many eras and localities; and late-twentieth century creations based on traditional forms. Especially noteworthy is the Momoyama Period (1568-1615) Bizen Ware Sake Bottle, considered one of the best of its type in the world. Some of the items included are Okinawan examples which form an outlying part of the tradition. There is also one example of an influential variety of Chinese porcelain. Three pieces, made by British or American potters affiliated with the Japanese tradition, are also included.
Several famous 20th century potters are represented in the exhibition, including Hamada Shoji, Kinjo Jiro, and Shimaoka Tatsuzo, all of whom have been designated Living National Treasures by the Japanese Government. The exhibition is the first outside of Japan to explore this broad range of production, and Tyler is the only Texas venue for this exquisite exhibition.
Japan's ceramic history is one of the longest in the world. Formal appreciation for traditional ceramic craft can be traced back to the tea ceremony ritual performed by monks who had studied Zen philosophy in China and brought it back to Japan in the sixteenth century. The interest in Japanese folk ceramics was revived by the Japan Folk Art (Mingei) Movement that started in 1925, as a response to industrialization. Japan is the only country in the world today where quality ceramics are considered fine art, fully equal in stature to paintings, sculpture and architecture, and where potters enjoy the status of other artists.
Quiet Beauty: Fifty Centuries of Japanese Folk Ceramics from the Montgomery Collection is organized and circulated by Art Services International, Alexandria Virginia.
The national tour has been sponsored by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson Fund, the Mitsubishi International Corporation, and the Toshiba International Foundation.
Major funding for the exhibition at the Tyler Museum of Art has been provided by Vernon and Amy Faulconer. Additional support has been provided by The R.W. Fair Foundation. The Corporate Member Sponsors for the exhibition are Hibbs-Hallmark & Company and King Chevrolet Company of Tyler.
 This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
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