Kitchen range in Morse’s figure 168

Overview

Morse describes the range in figure 168 as a compact structure made from broken tiles and mud or clay, pressed together, plastered and blackened outside. Two fire recesses open at the front. The whole rests on a stout wooden frame, with a place for ashes along the front and space underneath for wood and charcoal. The drawing shows several cooking vessels above the range and the open lower storage bay, making fuel, working surface and vessel support part of one arrangement.

The account places the implement within household work rather than treating it as a decorative object. Morse discusses kitchens in city homes, farmhouses, inns and tea-houses, with differences in light, floor level, water supply and room size. His adjacent sketches include a Kabutoyama farmhouse and Tokyo examples, but figure 168 itself has no named household or maker. Its caption identifies a kitchen range without dimensions or an individual manufacture date.

Morse also records a copper version of the same general form in which water surrounds openings used to warm sake bottles. That variant belongs to his surrounding discussion; the selected illustration follows the plastered, blackened range he first describes. The evidence therefore supports a particular historical configuration of everyday cooking equipment, while his claim that it was usual remains the observer’s judgment.

History & identity

Edward S. Morse’s illustrated household study, assembled from journals and sketches during three residences in Japan with assistance from Japanese hosts and colleagues.

Sources & representation

Complete selected context paragraphs1–30 read; paragraph5 supplies construction and working spaces, paragraphs1–13 supply kitchen context. Complete native figure168 viewed.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings

   Edward S. Morse · 1889

   New York: Harper & Brothers, retained 1889 printing; chapter IV, figures168 and180.

Language & cultural connections

Source-supported language and cultural connections have not yet been compiled for this profile.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Public-domain historical observer account with original illustrationsMorse’s complete selected kitchen and bathing accounts and original drawingsResearch access: 2026-10-21

Image credits

AI-generated interpretation of Morse’s historical drawing; unspecified details imagined.