An "O-Meibutsu" Stoneware Tea-Leaf Storage Jar named Chigusa (Myriad of flowers)
An "O-Meibutsu" Stoneware Tea-Leaf Storage Jar named Chigusa (Myriad of flowers)

CHINA, SOUTHERN SONG/YUAN DYNASTY (13TH-14TH CENTURY)

Details
An "O-Meibutsu" Stoneware Tea-Leaf Storage Jar named Chigusa (Myriad of flowers)
China, Southern Song/Yuan Dynasty (13th-14th century)
Of ovoid form with four lugs, cylindrical neck and rolled lip, applied with a mottled amber glaze ending well above the base; fitted with wood stopper
16½in. (41.8cm.)
Inscribed on base: with kao (cursive monograms) by Soami, Torii Insetsu, Ju Soho, Kondaya Tokurin and with unknown kao, Sho
With double wooden storage boxes, an accompanying letter from Sen no Rikyu to Kondaya Tokurin (mounted as a handscroll; see illustration), a silk mouth cover (kuchioi) of gold brocade (Tomita kinran), a silk footcloth (sokojikiginu) of satin damask (Shibata donsu), a letter by Hisada Soetsu (10th generation of the Takakura Hisada family of the Omote Senke tea school; 1856-1895) dated 1888, lock and key of a storage box with wood plaque of the Hisada family, display cords ordered by Fujita family (2)
Provenance
Torii Insetsu (1448-1517), Sakai
Ju Soho, Sakai, ca. 1573
Kondaya Tokurin, Sakai, ca. 1583-87
Arima Yorimune (1685-1706), Kurume
Arima Norifusa (1674-1738), Kurume
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1646-1709), Edo (Ryuei gomotsu), gift of the above on 1706.6.1
Hisada family, Omote Senke school, Kyoto, before 1888
Baron Fujita Denzaburo (1841-1912), Osaka
Fujita Family, Osaka, sold at auction on 1929.5.10
Private collection, Tokyo
Literature
Imai Sokyu (1520-1593), Kondaya Tokurin kai (Tea gathering at Kondaya Tokurin's residence), from Imai Sokyu chanoyu kakinuki (A record of tea gatherings of Imai Sokyu), 27th day, first month, Tensho 3 (1575).

Yamanoue no Soji (1544-1590), Yamanoue no Soji ki (Notes of Yamanoue Soji), ca. 1589.

Matsuya Hisayoshi (d. 1633), Kondaya Tokurin kai (Tea gathering at Kondaya Tokurin's residence), from Hisayoshi chakaiki (Record of tea gatherings of Hisayoshi), 25th day, fourth month, Tensho 14 (1586).

Kamiya Sotan (1551-1635), Kondaya Tokurin kai (Tea gathering at Kondaya Tokurin's residence), from Sotan nikki (Diary of tea gatherings of Sotan), 6th day, first month, Tensho 15 (1587).

Kansei choshu shokefu (Public record of families in the Kansei era [1789-1801]), vol. 469 (1812).

Ryuei ondogu yosecho (Catalogue of tea utensils in the collection of the Tokugawa shogunate), 1817.

Joken'in dono onjikki [Public record of Joken'in (Tokugawa Tsunayoshi)], first day, sixth month, 1706.

Kusunose Ko, ed., Sotan nikki (Diary of Sotan), vol. 11 of Zuihitsu bungaku zenshu (Collected miscellanies and literary writings) (Tokyo: Shosaisha, 1927), p. 32.

Fujita danshakuke zohin nyusatsu mokuroku (auction catalogue of collection of Baron Fujita) (1929.5.10), pl. 166.

Takagi Fumi, ed., Hotei Ryuei gomotsushu (Revised version of list of the collection of Tokugawa shogunate) (publisher unknown, 1933), p. 48.
Kuwata Tadachika, Sotan nikki: Kamiya Sotan no chaseikatsu (Diary of tea gatherings of Sotan: Kamiya Sotan's tea life) (Kyoto: Koto shoin, 1947), p. 28.

Kuwata Tadachika, Yamanoue no Soji ki, in Sado koten zenshu (Collection of classical references about tea practice) vol. 6, ed. Sen Soshitsu et al. (Kyoto: Tankosha, 1960), p. 60.

Haga Koshiro, Sotan nikki, in Sado koten zenshu (Collection of classical references about tea practice) vol. 6, ed. Sen Soshitsu et al. (Kyoto: Tankosha, 1960), p. 167.

Kurosaka Katsumi and Kokushi taikei henshukai, eds., Tokugawa jikki dairoppen (vol. 6 of public record of the Tokugawa shogunate), vol. 43 of Kokushi taikei (Collection of national historical documents) (Tokyo: Yoshikawa kobunkan, 1965), p. 621.

Kuwata Tadachika, Sen no Rikyu no shokan (Letters of Sen no Rikyu) (Tokyo: Tokyodo shuppan, 1971), no. 109, pp. 261-62.

Oda Eisaku, ed., Ryuei dogucho (List of the collection of the Tokugawa shogunate), in Sado kobijutsu zocho shisei jokan (Collection of antique art for tea practice from famous collections) (Tokyo: Tosho kankokai, 1977), p. 75.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu, Chatsubo (Tea jars) (Kyoto: Tankosha, 1982), pp. 144, 240-41 (main volume), pp. 284, 289 and 361 (Study-reference volume).

Kyoto National Museum, ed., Tokubetsu tenrankai--Yonhyakunen ki: Sen no Rikyu ten/Special Exhibition--Sen no Rikyu: The 400th Memorial (Kyoto: Kyoto National Museum, 1990), pl. 77.

Takeuchi Jun'ichi, Yamanoue no Soji ki kisai no chadogu (Tea utensils appearing in Yamanoue Soji's note), in Chanoyu konwakai, ed., Yamanoue no Soji kenkyu 1 (Study of Yamanoue Soji's notes) (Tokyo: Santokuan, 1993),p. 65, pl. 3; pp. 71, 106.

The Gotoh Museum, ed., Kaikan sanjugoshunen kinen tokubetsuten-- Yamanoue no Soji ki: Tensho juyonnen no me/Yamanoue Soji's Notes (On the Proper use of Fine Tea Utensils) (Tokyo: The Gotoh Museum, 1995), pl. 5, 5-2, p. 17.

Hayashiya Tatsusaburo et al., eds., Kadokawa sado daijiten fukyuban (Kadokawa encyclopedia of tea practice, popular edition) (Tokyo: Kadokawa shoten, 2002), p. 861.

Kumakura Isao, supervising ed., Yamanoue no Soji ki, Iwanami bunko 33-051-1 (Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 2006), p. 27.
Exhibited
Kyoto National Museum, "Tokubetsu tenrankai yonhyakunen ki--Sen no Rikyu ten/Special Exhibition--Sen no Rikyu: the 400th Memorial," 1990.3.27--5.6

The Gotoh Museum, Tokyo, "Kaikan sanjugoshunen kinen tokubetsuten-- Yamanoue no Soji ki: Tensho juyonnen no me/Yamanoue Soji's Notes (On the proper use of fine tea utensils)," 1995.10.28--11.26

Brought to you by

Katsura Yamaguchi
Katsura Yamaguchi

Lot Essay

It is remarkable that this jar was known and recorded by Kamiya Sotan, who is known to have been served tea by the Momoyama-period warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587. Hideyoshi also made tea in a two-mat tea room in Osaka Castle in 1584 for Yamanoue Soji, who recorded the jar in his diary. Soji, a resident of Sakai, was a leading tea disciple of the Momoyama-period tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591).

More from Japanese and Korean Art

View All
View All